Trials of a Brave Heart
by FrayGray
Summary: Marnie O'Hara has had a pretty sheltered life up until the time she boards the Hogwarts Express where she meets two mischievous red heads with a whole new perspective on life. Of course Marnie struggles against the twins' antics and her own secrets but she will try her best to protect everything she holds dear. And maybe fall in love along the way... *I do not own Harry Potter
1. Bravery in the Eyes of the Beholder

**Disclaimer: The magical world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **Revised editing: Wanted to correct some grammar and awkward phrases but story remains unchanged!**

Joss O'Hara was working out in his garden, pruning the roses he and his wife had planted when they had first moved into this little hideaway cottage in the middle of the valley. They had liked its small size and remote location which gave them an added sense of security. This was because the house stood alone amongst the rolling hills and meadows which seemed to extend into the horizon with nothing else in sight.

Joss stood up momentarily to give his reddened knees some reprieve. As he stood, he looked out to admire the view, before turning back to survey the other gardens he still needed to attend to. The lawn featured a dozen different gardens which he took care of daily while he waited for his wife to return home. Looking towards the front of the house, he decided the roses were good enough for the day and moved on to the next garden. This one was specifically for vegetables which his family used regularly to prepare their meals, especially since it was late in the summer and most of the vegetables were ripe to eat.

Joss enjoyed spending most of his days outside, especially while his three-year old daughter slept in her room upstairs. She was the perfect child, so full of life and curiosity. She did not fuss often and lavished in the attention he and his wife gave her. Joss smiled as he thought of how his life had unexpectedly turned out; a caring wife he never thought would agree to marry him and a house centered in a beautiful meadow away from the rest of the harsh and deceptive world. But the best thing him and his wife agreed was the blessing which was their daughter; whom he would give his life for. Despite the war he had more in his life than he had ever anticipated. This is why he wished it was him risking his life in order to protect his family…

After Joss picked the vegetables, he got up to tend to the side garden to water it. It had been a hotter season than normal, and this had become his routine. Spending all his spare time attending to the yard, mostly because it was all he could do. Just wait and watch the skies for anything peculiar. Any signs telling him to flee at a moment's notice. Watching for any sign of his wife or the other Phoenix members in need of help. Joss had been on edge for the past three years while his wife, Lena, had gone to join the Order of the Phoenix alongside their friends James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Alice and Frank, among others. It angered Joss to think that he was of no use; it was his world too and he could do nothing to prevent the evil that was coming.

By now the sun was shining overhead, as bright as it had been all summer. But before he could move to the next garden, he heard an unexpected noise coming from the house. It was his daughter, Marnie, screaming in her bed. Joss always left the windows open so he could hear her cries or squabbles. Often Marnie woke up giggling which would alert him that she was awake. This time however was different and almost terrifyingly unusual. He quickly started heading towards the house before he stopped momentarily in his tracks. Off in the far distance, there was a dark greenish-purple hue invading the light sky. This was it… they were coming.

XXX

Eight years later…

I woke up to see the sun just visibly showing over the distant hills that surrounded my house from all sides. I always loved watching how the sun changed the scenery and colouring of the meadows depending on what time of day it was. So far, the sun made the tops of the hills glow almost as if they were engulfed in a golden blaze. I smiled as it felt like the flames were filling my body with a bubbling excitement like I was about to explode. I had been waiting for this day my entire life.

With the sudden realization that today was actually the first of September, I threw off my covers and catapulted myself out of bed right to my bedroom door. I opened it with excitement and briefly paused to hear the sizzling sound of bacon on the pan. No sooner had I realized this, I could suddenly smell the hot grease wafting up the stairs from our small kitchen where my dad was no doubt preparing breakfast for the two of us. I bounded down the stairs and took a running slide through our sitting room in order to reach the kitchen which was at the back of our house. We lived in a small cottage which seemed detached from the rest of the world. This had apparently been a major selling factor for my parents when they bought the house during the war, especially since me and my dad had both been vulnerable targets. Ultimately my mother's life became endangered due to her family choices. I briefly frowned at this thought as I looked up to see my dad placing what looked like a pound of bacon onto a serving plate. He turned around and smiled at me as he set the plate down on our small table in the so-called dining room which was just off our kitchen. Since we live in such a small house all of our furniture is also fit to size. I thought of this as I looked down at our table which was covered in food including pancakes, bacon, sausages, beans, scrambled eggs and waffles as well as our ancient looking tea pot which had belonged to my mother's family.

Dad kept smiling as he rearranged the food to fit the final serving plate and looked up at me when he finally had everything on the table.

"Well I know this may not compete with the Hogwarts feast you'll have later tonight but I do think the O'Hara house feast is pretty spectacular" my dad exclaimed as he sat down in his usual seat which was closest to the kitchen. He also gestured for me to sit down across from him which was my usual seat.

Everything in this house was worn which I felt gave the cottage a very warm and welcoming feeling. I had spent my whole life here since my parents moved in right after their wedding. They got married just before the start of the Wizarding War and had me six months later. My father has always assured me though that I was not the reason they had gotten married; the war had just sped up their agenda to start a family. I never doubted what my dad told me since we were always honest with each other and I knew he loved my mother dearly. She was the love of his life.

"Dad these are all your special breakfasts combined!" I exclaimed while already shoveling food onto my plate.

Even though I was quite small for my age I usually ate twice the amount of food that my father did for every meal. This made every meal look like we had a larger family than just the two of us.

I was in the middle of scarfing down my waffles when I looked up and noticed my dad staring at me with only his cup of tea in his hand. I swallowed my mouthful and looked back at him with a large grin.

"Dad, I can't believe I'm finally going to Hogwarts. I hope I make some friends on the train right away just like mum! Wasn't that how she met Aunt Alice and Marlene?" I looked at him thoughtfully and watched as the corner of his mouth turned up into a small smile while his eyes sparkled with the tinge of sadness he always got when I mentioned my mother.

He set down his cup and answered my question with his hands folded together on the table. "Yes, your mum sat with Marlene and Alice on her first day and even though she got sorted into Hufflepuff and the others into Gryffindor, they were always the best of friends."

He finished explaining and drifted his gaze to look out the window which features our backyard and the sprawling hills in the distance. He returned his gaze a moment later and looked at me thoughtfully.

"You know Marnie, you will probably have many different experiences than your mother, so do not get discouraged if you don't make friends right away. I do know however that there are a couple families in the area with children starting this year or who are already in school. I am sure there will be many students there for you to meet and befriend."

This statement from my father sparked my interest since he never talked about knowing any of the local families. The only family I knew of was the Lovegood's who were a good five miles away. Mr. Lovegood and my father shared a passion for gardening which I assumed was the only reason we saw any of the neighbours at all. This also meant that I would get to see Luna once in a while whom I really considered to be one of my only friends. It was a good thing we got along quite well and meant that we would spend hours sharing stories in the meadows near my house and picking wildflowers. But I knew she didn't start school for another two years, so my father couldn't have meant her.

My father also liked to keep me close which meant I could never go far and rarely even visited the Lovegood house. I also did not know any other neighbours or anyone from the closest town since my dad preferred to stay at home. I was surprised then to find out that even though I did not know anyone else and never saw my dad go anywhere by himself, that he somehow had knowledge of who lived nearby (and by nearby, I mean like a 20-mile radius). The only other visitor we ever got was my uncle who was accompanying us to King's Cross and would probably be arriving any minute.

As if on cue, before I could ask my father about these mysterious neighbours, I heard a soft rapping at the door.

I stood up quickly and propelled myself from the table to take another running slide towards the front door before almost tripping over my opened trunk which was currently in the middle of our sitting room. I heard my father scold me for being too reckless, but I was too excited to contain all my energy for what was going to happen today.

I threw the door open to see my dad's best friend standing on our little stoop. He was dressed in a worn looking overcoat and dress pants which also looked a little too large for his fairly thin figure. But despite his drab appearance he had a large smile on his face as he looked down at me.

"Uncle Remus!" I yelled as I threw myself onto him which almost caused him to lose his footing. "Today is the day! I get to go to Hogwarts! What house do you think I will be in..? I hope I am in Gryffindor like you… or maybe Hufflepuff like mum was. I will be happy with anything- well maybe not Slytherin" I started to ramble through my excitement as my father came to the doorway to greet Remus.

"I thought you would be done packing by now, especially since I came to pick you up and drive you to King's Cross," Remus inquired as he looked over at my opened trunk which was only half full with articles of clothing hanging out of it. However, he had a knowing smile on his face which showed that he purposefully arrived 90 minutes early for this very reason.

My father returned his knowing smile and explained, "Well, we were up late last night watching movies and playing monopoly. We started that game last week and had to finish it before Marnie left, and she just wouldn't let me win."

My dad then turned a mocking smile down towards me which I returned by crossing my arms over my chest.

"Dad," I huffed, "You are too old for me to let you win, plus, how will you ever learn if I go easy on you? Monopoly requires certain special skills to win." I explained with a devilish grin.

I was always told by both my dad and Remus that I had my mother's competitiveness. It was always something that I loved to hear them say. Dad would also tell me how much I reminded him of my mother in general which always made me feel closer with her.

It was then that Lupin frowned while looking over at Joss. Joss was focusing all of his attention on Marnie with glossy looking eyes and Remus thought it must be hard on his friend to watch his daughter go to school and have her be away from home for so long; all without Lena by his side.


	2. The Hogwarts Express

Coming into the city in Remus's car was like a foreign experience since I had only ever been to the city a handful of times, without ever having the opportunity to explore it. When we arrived at King's Cross Station it seemed like this was where everyone in London had been heading. There was an unimaginable amount of people, more than I had ever seen in my life! Everyone also appeared to be in a hurry, brushing by my trolley and threatening to tip over my trunk. Dad had his hand clasped on my shoulder to prevent us from becoming separated. Remus was a pace behind my father and had his head tipped down as well as the flaps of his overcoat flipped up. I think this was one of the reasons my father and Remus got along so well; they both cherished their privacy.

After endlessly navigating through the hordes of people, we finally reached a large pillar between the ninth and tenth platforms. This was where Remus had ultimately been directing us to go despite me actually not being able to tell which direction we were heading in. I looked up at the brick façade skeptically before looking back at Remus for confirmation. The wall looked pretty real and solid to me, but he returned my look by nodding his head slightly and then lifting it forward to indicate moving towards it. In response my dad squeezed my shoulder and looked down at me to meet my eyes.

"Your mother always said taking a running go at it made it easier," he smiled and put his hands over mine on the trolley. "Together?" He asked after sensing my hesitation.

"Together," I nodded feeling slightly more confident with my dad at my side.

We pushed the trolley towards the very solid looking wall against my better judgement. My dad started to jog which forced to me to start running just to keep up. Right before I thought we were about to crash into the wall my surroundings went pitch black for a split second before changing to reveal another platform. Right in front of me now was a scarlet steam engine along with what looked like hundreds of kids milling around with trolleys. I knew we were in the right place since they were mostly carrying trunks along with either owls, cats, or toads set on top in cages. I smiled at what was obviously the first bit of unimaginable magic I had ever seen which had allowed us to walk through the wall. I looked back in time to see Remus casually stepping through it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I guess to my uncle, who had attended Hogwarts with my mother for seven years, the wall entrance was normal. I couldn't ever imagine getting used to these impossible feats. Magic was hardly ever used at my house and I hardly ever left it to be able to see others performing it.

I turned around to take in the sheer size of the train itself. It was everything Remus and dad had explained it to be. I still couldn't believe this day had finally arrived.

At this point my dad squeezed my shoulder again.

"That was pretty fantastic and not scary at all once you figure it out," my dad said to me reassuringly.  
I smiled back at him in agreeance.

"Why don't we head over closer to the train and we can figure out what to do from there?" he added before directing me closer to one of the train cars.

I could tell my father sounded more confident than he felt. I knew it was hard for him to let me go to Hogwarts where I wouldn't see him for another three months. This was largely because I had never been separated from my dad for more than a night or two. On occasion, I had been allowed to sleep over with Luna or at Remus's house, but those visits were very few and far between. My dad felt he needed to keep a close eye on me and protect me. It wasn't that he didn't trust me- me and my dad had a very close relationship- the war had just taken its toll on him.

Once we approached a mostly clear entrance onto the train, it let out a warning whistle. I looked up at the clock to see it was 10:55, meaning the train would be leaving in five minutes. I looked over at my father who was rapidly trying to clear his face of the evidence that he had tears in his eyes. I knew this was hard on him, we were each other's best friends despite the fact that he was my father. This didn't mean that he wouldn't punish me if I did something wrong or that he didn't worry about me if he thought I was in danger. It was actually the opposite, he probably worried too much about me which was also probably one of the reasons for his tears.

Thinking about how much I would miss my father, I felt tears well up in my own eyes causing me to bury my face into my dad's chest. Hogwarts was where I had always wanted to go ever since my dad told me about it when I was three years old. He really hadn't had a choice after I turned my pillow blue from crying into it after being punished for drawing on the walls. I had been so terrified that I had done something else wrong that I started wailing. Despite my punishment being one of solitary confinement in my bedroom, my dad had come running, knowing something else was wrong.

That night he sat me down in our sitting room armchair next to the fireplace and took out a chest from the attic which was filled mostly with my mother's things from her time at Hogwarts. After that night my father brought the trunk of my mother's things up to my room and hung her poster of the Hollyhead Harpies as well as her Hufflepuff banner onto my walls where they still hung today. I have also read her copies of _Hogwarts a History_ and _Quidditch Throughout the Ages_ probably a thousand times each since then.

My father took both of my shoulders and pried me away from his body before crouching down to look me in the eyes.

"Marnie, I don't want you to worry about making friends right away or even worry about me being all by myself. I know you think of yourself as my little protector, but I have Remus and Mr. Lovegood to keep me company. I love you so very much and I know you have been excited about attending Hogwarts practically your entire life. I want you to have fun," he paused as if contemplating something, "but not too much fun."  
I knew he was only half kidding.  
I then gave him another bone crushing hug before whispering, "I love you too dad!"

After I let go Remus stepped forward to me another hug. He ruffled the hair on the top of my head and looked at me with excited eyes.

"Stay out of trouble, and don't be too much like James. Try to follow more in your mother's footsteps" he said amusingly although with a sad smile on his face.

I knew who James and Lily Potter were from being told numerous stories from Remus's childhood as well as my father's stories from his time knowing them through the Order. I didn't know too much about the war but James and Lily had been very close friends of my parents and so I heard lots of stories from their time together despite the war.

Remus then took my trunk and handed it to me as I climbed up onto the train. He waved one last time and then waved dismissively for me to go and find a seat. With another pause, I started lugging my trunk down the narrow hallway and peered into one of the first few compartments. There was a boy with dreadlocks and a girl with such shiny black hair, it almost looked blue. I entered the compartment a little sheepishly before they looked up from their conversation with huge grins on their faces. I smiled back and had to clear my throat before speaking. It felt like my voice was somewhere at the bottom of it.

"Hi, is it ok if I sit with you two?" I asked in a hoarse voice.

They kept smiling at me and the girl responded at once.

"Of course! This is Lee and I'm Angelina, we are both first years and just met on the platform after Lee here ran over my foot with his trolley." At this statement, the boy laughed in embarrassment and I could see his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink.

"Yea well, I've already said I'm sorry about that, just lost control of the trolley is all and couldn't really see over my trunk." he answered more confidently.

I stepped through the door and went to pick up my trunk before being thwarted by Lee who stood up and placed it in the overhead compartment. After thanking him I sat down and briefly hesitated before starting up a conversation with the two first years. I was so excited to have met some people who looked just as excited as I felt and were first years just like me. But I was also nervous at meeting people in general. I had had very few experiences meeting new people, but then also thought of my mother who met her best friends on the train. I knew my dad had warned me about not needing to make friends right away, but Lee and Angelina seemed so friendly, I just had a good feeling.

"My name is Marnie, it's nice to meet you both" I paused briefly, trying to make my voice louder. "So, which houses do you want to be sorted into?" I asked them both in my still quiet voice.

Angelina looked at me with a bright smile and laughed at my question in a non-condescending way.

"Lee and I were just talking about that! We both actually want to be in Gryffindor the most, but I wouldn't mind being sorted into Ravenclaw. What about you? I kind of hope maybe all three of us get sorted into the same house so we could at least know some friendly faces."

I smiled at the idea of being in the same house as them. I was already starting to like Lee and Angelina since they were being so nice, and I agreed that it would be less intimidating knowing some people in the same house on the first day.

"My uncle was in Gryffindor which I think is also my favourite after reading _Hogwarts: A History_ but my mum was in Hufflepuff which I think is also a good house-"

Lee chuckled at this, so I looked up at him in surprise.

"Sorry," he said, "it's just that Hufflepuff seems so plain. I'm certain I will get into Gryffindor, so you guys will just have to get sorted same as me" he smiled with even more confidence in his voice.

At this Angelina leaned over towards him and proceeded to stomp on his foot with a devilish grin on her face.

"Ow, what was that for?" Lee asked while lifting his knee, so he could rub his foot.

"Don't be rude to Marnie, there's nothing wrong with any house, well except for Slytherin" Angelina said with a shiver seen noticeably run through her shoulders. "And also, this makes us even" she added as she continued with her devilish smirk.

"Yea, I don't think I want to be sorted into Slytherin either," I said, shaking my head. "But my mum was sorted into Hufflepuff while the two friends she met on the train were sorted into Gryffindor and they stayed best friends, even after they left Hogwarts," I said with a smile thinking of my mother again.

Lee nodded his head before speaking. "Yea I guess you guys are both right, and I think we should all be friendly regardless of the sorting. But I still think nothing is better than Gryffindor."

It looked like Angelina was gearing up to retaliate again, which made me smile at their developing antics, when the compartment door slid open.

"Oi, couldn't agree more with you there chap, nothing is better, fiercer, or braver than a Gryffindor. Our entire family has been sorted into that house and we intend to uphold the family honour!" the new boy exclaimed from the compartment entrance.

Looking over, I noticed that there were two boys standing in the doorway with their trunks in tow. The one who had spoken seemed to be talking in an exaggerated, haughty voice while the other was trying to suppress his laughter.

"Boys are unbelievable" Angelina shook her head while the two new students fully entered the compartment to join into our conversation.

They were the tallest out of everyone here and had matching flaming red hair. They were also identical.

"This is George and I'm Fred Weasley, future Gryffindors extraordinaire!" Fred exclaimed as the two brothers shoved their trunks up above and took seats opposite each other.

I think it was George who sat beside me and Fred who was beside Lee both being closest to the door. Angelina was on the other side of Lee whom I was facing.

Before I-think-Fred continued on with his increasingly dramatic spiel, I-assume-George leaned down towards me and held out his hand. I hesitated briefly before taking his hand and shaking it.

"Don't mind my brother, he likes to make a lasting impression" the probably-George explained as the rest of us smiled and laughed.

"I resent that statement. Not because it isn't true, because we will be infamous, but because you are trying to downplay our first ever impression for Hogwarts" Fred grinned proudly before meeting my eyes which made him gasp. "Your eyes, they're so... vibrant! They almost match my hair".

I looked away blushing fiercely at the direct acknowledgement of my distinguishable eye colour. I shared this unique colouring with my mother who also had the almost orange hue tinting to her irises.  
I turned back sheepishly to meet Fred's own bright blue eyes and couldn't help feeling overwhelmed from the direct, inquisitive attention.

"Yea, they're kinda strange. But they're hereditary, I get them from my mum," I explained, still managing to maintain eye contact. "They're considered hazel but have this reflective quality that makes them appear almost orange," I kept explaining and noticed Angelina trying to swat Fred on the shoulder by leaning over Lee.

I couldn't help smiling at how confident and fiery Angelina seemed. It was almost humbling how she wanted to reprimand Fred for being so direct after only just having met me. She would for sure be sorted into Gryffindor.

I quickly surveyed the other four individuals around me who all undoubtedly seemed qualified to be in the house known for its bravery and loyalty. Although Lee, Fred and presumably George were flippantly vocal about their intention for being sorted into Gryffindor, it seemed outwardly obvious that they would all get their wish. It was likely even that they would stay friends, despite only knowing each other for a short time. It was like watching puzzle pieces click into place as their personalities interacted. This made me frown slightly since I wasn't sure if I had the same qualities as the other four. I was loyal to my family and few friends, but I was nervous about meeting new people and even about going to Hogwarts. I had read all the books on magic I could find to prepare myself, but I still felt inadequate compared to families who actively used magic and probably demonstrated different skills for their children. I also didn't think I was very brave, or at least not as brave as them.

Just then, the redhead beside me looked over and showed concern on his face since I guess he had noticed my anxiety.

"I hope Fred didn't offend you, he can be pretty blunt about most things. He didn't mean to upset you. I know him well enough to know that he only said something because he thinks your eyes are fascinating" the confirmed-George explained, looking over at Fred who was now telling a joke to Lee and Angelina who were laughing hysterically.

"No, it's not that. Fred seems nice and I can't wait to get to know everybody," I paused in order to work up the courage to confess my fear. "It's just, I can see that you all belong in Gryffindor and I just don't think I would be classified as brave or strong. I mean, my mum was a Hufflepuff and she managed to stay friends with people from other houses. I am just worried that I don't belong with the rest of you and you all seem so nice and friendly," I stopped before I started to ramble.

George looked down at me with concern and opened his mouth to respond but I heard Fred speak up first. We both looked over to acknowledge him.

"Of course, you belong with us! I mean if our prat of a brother Percy is a Gryffindor, you certainly can be," Fred exclaimed confidently.

"Bravery isn't always as obvious as never backing down from a fight or never taking no for an answer," Angelina piped in with her affectious smile. "It's standing up for yourself and not giving up when things look bleak or prove difficult," she added triumphantly.

"Yea, I mean I figure each of us decides to be brave, it's nothing we are born with," Lee added looking at me with an encouraging smile.

Just then George picked up my left arm as if he were inspecting it for something. He paused and inquisitively tapped his bottom lip as if intently trying to decide something. "Yep, you look plenty brave to me Marnie. We all see it," George set down my arm and gave me a wide grin as the other started laughing at his exaggerated nature.

Their comments all brought a huge smile to my face as I felt a warm sensation fill up my chest. I just met these people, yet they were already trying to placate me from my fears. I couldn't believe they were being so nice and friendly. So, I made a vow that even if I was sorted into another house, I would remain friends with this bunch. I wonder if this is how it had been for my mum...?


	3. Hogsmeade Station

We arrived in Hogsmeade just as the sun was setting in the distance. I got off the train following the twins and looked towards the horizon, thinking of the hills that surround my house. The views there are pretty spectacular, and I love how the sun typically sets over the pond to the west.

It seemed impossible that I had only woken up this morning to see the first break of sun from my bedroom window in England and was now looking at it set in where I suspected was Northern Scotland. It was probably the most eventful day of my life, but despite all of the things that happened I was still full of excitement.

The five of us went to collect our trunks and followed the crowd of older students who obviously knew the way to go. Amongst the commotion I started to get separated, probably because my legs were not as long as Angelina's or the others'. Moments later the beacon of red hair from the twins faded from my view and I started to feel slightly anxious. This was only the second time in my life I had been in a group this size and everyone was all fairly bunched together. Most students were keeping up with their own groups or crossing distances to meet up with others. I started to feel sweat on the back of my neck and my breathing elevated before I felt a hand on my arm. I looked up to see one of the twins and instantly felt relieved. I couldn't understand my reaction to the crowd of students; it seemed odd. But then again, I had never been in any similar situation, so I didn't know what to expect.

I was fairly sure that the twin who had grabbed my arm was George. I spent a large portion of the train ride trying to decipher differing characteristics between the twins and noticed that George has a faded scar on his brow line which is almost imperceptible. Fred on the other hand has slightly different eyes which are a shade bluer than George's. This is also aside from their varying personalities. George is more mild mannered compared to Fred who seems to enter every situation like a blazing force.

I looked up at the twin in front of me and found the slight scar over his right eye.

"Didn't think you could get away from us that easily did you?" George asked with a wink.

The red-headed boy then started to pull my arm through the crowd until we soon met up with the group.

Fred looked over at the two of us once we arrived and dramatically wiped the back of his hand across his forehead.

"I thought you had been lost to us forever, trampled by all of the ogre-like Hogwarts students," he sighed even more dramatically with a wink.

Instead of blushing or feeling embarrassed in response to Fred's exaggerated display, I met his bright blue eyes with a determined grin.

"Well wasn't it your job to keep me safe and away from the danger of the ogre-like Hogwarts students?" I looked at Fred with a challenge in my eyes.

I figured if I was going to keep up with their antics I would have to fight back. "If I succumb to any danger, you will have to surrender to the wrath of my father," I retorted with satisfaction.

Fred looked taken aback as the others laughed.

"We have a fiery one here Freddie, I think she's a keeper!" George exclaimed proudly.

Before Fred could fire a retort, Angelina interrupted the competition of wits.

"Hey, you never mentioned your father on the train," Angelina said thoughtfully. "What house was he sorted into?"

I paused briefly at the change of subject. Dad had warned me that his status may upset some children who come from pure blood or prejudicial families. But that was a crazy insinuation for these four, they had been nothing but friendly to me, so I ignored the warning in my head.

"Umm, actually he's a squib," I said casually, still slightly monitoring for any negative reactions.

But I couldn't see any. Angelina looked thoughtful of my answer while the others looked like they didn't really have an opinion on the matter. I felt my chest fill up with relief. I wasn't embarrassed by my father, he was my best friend, and I would choose loyalty for my father over anyone else's opinion, even those who treated me with kindness.

After assessing the almost uninterested reactions from my new friends towards my father's blood status, I turned back to look at Fred. He held my gaze, and I knew he was forming a rebuttal to my former quip on his character and duty to protect me, when I heard a sneer from behind me.

"Your dad is a squib, what a joke! I can't believe they actually sent you an acceptance letter to Hogwarts, that's just pathetic." I cringed at the hateful words coming from behind my back. We were almost on the other side of the Hogsmeade platform where I could see the blackened lake in front of us.

The five of us all stopped and I turned around to see a brutish boy who was even taller than the twins looking down at me with hateful contempt. I felt my heart split between cowering away from this obvious bully and giving him a piece of my mind for insulting a man he did not know. But, before I could decide what I wanted to do, Fred stepped right in front of the boy with a look of utter rage.

"Yea, well I'm surprised they're still extending invitations to families as nasty and bigoted as yours!" Fred shouted, inching closer to the boy.

However, before anything could get anymore heated or dangerous, an extremely large man approached our group and looked down at us with worry in his eyes.

 _"Wha's goin' on 'ere?"_ The giant man stepped closer to me as if sensing the two boys posed a threat. He had it half right.

Fred was the first to stand down only after staring at the hulking boy for a few more moments. He then swung around and took my arm to direct me away from the bully in the opposite direction.

"Just protecting my friend from bullies, sir" Fred stated with rage still in his eyes as he continued to size up the other boy.

The giant man seemed taken aback at this information and looked at the large boy wearily before standing in between him and us.

" _Well le's move along. Firs' years follow me!"_ he hollered and I gladly obliged.

"You can't hide behind weasels forever squib! You don't belong here!" the bully added from somewhere behind the giant man.

I looked over at Fred who still had a tight grip on my arm and anger in his eyes. I was a little surprised that he didn't turned around at the other boy's taunt but was glad he decided to stay by my side instead. Maybe he was too angry to hear the last comment. He was also murmuring under his breath saying things like "unbelievable" and "I should'a". It was only when we approached the end of the lake, where the giant man had led us, that Fred finally released my arm. He looked down at me pointedly and stared directly into my eyes.

"Now you can't tell your father I don't keep you from danger," he said seriously as he continued to stare at me.

After a moment of silence, I broke it by quietly laughing at the seriousness of Fred's face and the relief that these are the people I luckily sat with on the train. I continued to laugh and saw Fred's features soften as he started to chuckle along as well. The others soon joined in as we all shared a moment knowing that we all had each other's back from here on out. It was obvious that the others shared Fred's feelings towards the other boy and would be there for me in any similar situation.

Before entering the boat, Fred took my hand to help me into it. I sat down beside him and looked over at him inquisitively. I had just met this boy but he had decidedly stood up in my honour without being asked or even knowing me very well. Maybe it was that Gryffindor bravery the others had all been on about, but I couldn't help but be in awe of what Fred had done for me. I also glanced down to see that Fred still hadn't released my hand from when he helped me onto the boat. Fred had a comforting presence about him that made me feel more secure in this almost foreign realm.

The group was all immersed in excited whispers about almost being able to see the school when I looked at Fred's face. I had only been joking about him protecting me but I had a slight suspicion that even though we had both been joking around, Fred had immediately taken my words seriously. I didn't know what incentive he could possibly have in wanting to protect me but I was almost relieved that I wouldn't have to navigate my first year alone.

Little did I know that when I briefly looked over at Fred, George watched the two of us inquisitively. George felt relieved that Fred seemed to like the new girl as much as he did. It was like one of their many shared twin moments when they had the same feeling without having to communicate it to each other. Marnie seemed to illicit a shared reaction from him and his brother that was protective and genuine. George kept thinking to himself that Marnie must be a Gryffindor, she just doesn't see it yet. Maybe that was a job for him and Fred…


	4. Gryffindor's Hufflepuff

**Thank you to all the reviews, follows, and favourites!**

The ride in the boat was exhilarating as we rounded the corner and took our first glance at the castle. It was magnificent just in its sheer size alone. I had never come close to seeing anything like it and I suspected the others hadn't either. The five of us shared a boat which was magically steering itself across the lake. This was definitely the second bit of unimaginable magic I had witnessed today.

The massive castle quickly approached as we arrived at the opposite shoreline. We were all talking in excitement as we embarked on our first official entrance into the school. I was gawking at the castle which we would all soon call home and was amazed by its level of grandeur.

We were now waiting just outside the supposed Great Hall where a Professor McGonagall had left us moments ago. I was so nervous that I became aware my palms were starting to sweat. I tried to think about the kind words Fred and the others told me encouragingly on the train, and also of my mother's past with her ability to maintain her own friendships. However, right now it was hard to have confidence in either scenario. Before I could panic too much though the large doors we were standing in front of opened. We were then promptly ushered into a Great Hall by Professor McGonagall whom I could see leading the large group of first years. It was even more nerve-wracking to see the rest of the school staring at us in interest and anticipation of who would permanently join their houses.

I barely heard the professor's instructions but quickly noticed the old, haphazard looking hat she placed upon a stool. Even more intriguingly, it noticeably started to sing. Taken aback at the sheer impossibility of the situation, this was most definitely the third piece of extraordinary magic I had witnessed today. When the hat finished its song the entire school applauded loudly at its presentation of school spirit, loyalty, and allegiance. Professor McGonagall then started to call up first years alphabetically. We had to wait awhile before Angelina Johnson was called up. It was almost instantaneous before the hat yelled GRYFFINDOR from atop her head. Angelina smiled profusely as she ran over to the table with the loudest applause, with every member standing up in ovation. The level of excitement in welcoming Angelina to their house seemed like pandemonium. It was touching how truly excited all of the older students were to welcome first years they hadn't even met into their houses.

Lee Jordan was right after Angelina. He didn't look nearly as confident as he had seemed on the train- figures. But the same thing happened as Angelina, where the ratty old hat yelled out GRYFFINDOR after only seconds of being placed on his head. Lee was also met with the same level of excitement from the older Gryffindors.

There were only two students after Lee before I heard Professor McGonagall call my name.

"Marnie O'Hara" she said in her authoritative sounding voice.

I hadn't really gotten a good look at the professor before when she briefly introduced herself to the first years when we had all arrived at the lake-shore. Now, I could see her worn features did not diminish the level of authority and respect she obviously maintained. But, behind her stern look I could tell that she hid something softer. Or at least something less formative.

I looked away from the professor only once I was beside the stool, to which I promptly sat down. I looked out over the crowd and scanned the four long tables. I couldn't help thinking that the length of the tables alone would probably fit twice the length of my entire house. Then, I surveyed each table individually and noticed the different colours signifying each house. I obviously knew Gryffindor was red since that is where Lee and Angelina were now sitting, looking at me encouragingly. I also knew that Hufflepuff was yellow since that was the colour of my mother's banner that had hung on my bedroom wall since I was young. The other two I could also decipher honestly due to the different manner of the students either dressed in blue or green. The green-adorned students all sat up straighter and didn't exude as much outward excitement as the other three houses. I also saw some of the students who sat closer to the front of the hall looking up at me with sneers on their faces. Amongst them was the horrible boy we had met at Hogsmeade station. He had already been sorted into Slytherin. His name was Marcus Flint.

Professor McGonagall then placed the hat on my head and I almost yelped in shock when the hat started talking inside my head.

 _"Ah, yes, O'Hara. I remember your uncle being sorted years ago. He was fiercely protective of your father was he not? He was easily sorted into Hufflepuff along with your mother Lena Tress. She was very selfless your mother, an example of all the Hufflepuff qualities not unlike yourself."_ The hat paused as if contemplating something silently on its own. _"I see your family has passed many of their traits onto you which you now embody. But I sense a deeper need which will undoubtedly come to pass. I can see the bravery you hold and I sense there will be many instances where this bravery will be necessary in order to carry on. In order to survive. It is not the physical or bold bravery that most Gryffindor's outwardly possess but the ability to move forward and depend on others as well as protecting the ones you hold dear. There is much to uncover in yourself and in your future so I believe I now know the best place to put you..."_ The voice in my head before it cut out as if a radio had been forcefully unplugged. Then I heard a louder voice over top of my head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the voice boomed before I saw all those students wearing red robes jump up off the benches such as they had for Angelina and Lee. As soon as McGonagall took the hat off my head I leapt off the stool and almost ran towards the open seat beside Angelina. Lee was sitting on the other side of the table and both of them had huge grins and were giving high fives. A few of the older students leaned over to shake my hand or clasp my shoulder as a brief welcome into their house. I couldn't have been more ecstatic about being accepted into the same house as my new friends. When I sat down moments later and the noise died down, I looked up to see the next student being sorted. Watching the sorting now made me start contemplating what the hat told me. I had sort of forgotten about my father's brother since my father didn't usually talk about him. I knew there was a picture back in our sitting room on the mantel of him and my father holding a large fish they caught near their childhood home. I also knew he was a wizard and had actually been friends with my mother while they had both been students. But it had been years since I had heard my dad speak of him.

Before I could think of any of the other ominous things the hat had said in my head the hat was announcing that the next student was being placed into Ravenclaw. I clapped and focused my attention back to the two red heads who were at the end of the line of first years. They were giving us a thumbs up and Lee, Angelina and I were laughing out of excitement and anticipation for their sorting. Finally, after about 10 more minutes Professor McGonagall called out 'Fred Weasley'.

Fred bounded up the steps and easily took his place on the stool. In even less time than it had taken the hat to decide Lee and Angelina the hat exclaimed that Fred would also be joining Gryffindor. We all hollered in excitement as Fred ran over to the table with his hands shaking above his head victoriously. Fred took his place beside Lee who clasped Fred's hand before both of them sat down. Angelina and I were also looking at Fred with huge grins and clapping fiercely. We all eventually went quiet to see George receive the same fate as his twin brother. George made a similar entrance like Fred towards our table and took his place beside me. I gave him a hug which he returned just for Angelina to join in, forcing me to be stuck in the middle. George was the last student to be sorted which caused the whole Great Hall to become louder in excitement over the newest additions to each house. The five of us were all looking at each other happily, taking in the great fortune of all being sorted into the same house- not that any of us ever doubted it. Another red head soon came over to our section and congratulated all of us, especially Fred and George, for being sorted into Gryffindor.

"Thanks Perce," George said from beside me which made me look up at the new boy inquisitively. So this must be Fred and George's brother that they had mentioned on the train. He had horned-rimmed glasses and was just as lean as the twins. Not as muscular however or as tall. He was obviously older than all of us but it only seemed to be by a year or two. No sooner had Percy left us to return to his seat that another red head approached our end of the table. This boy was obviously older and broader than the other three red heads. He had even more freckles on his face and longer hair. He also seemed the more outdoorsy type than the others whom I assumed again were all brothers. I would need to get better acquainted with the twins to learn more about their family. We hadn't really talked about any of our families on the train ride, but there was obviously lots of time to learn.

"Hey Charlie!" Fred exclaimed from the other side of the table.

The taller boy smiled back at his younger brothers before surveying all of us.

"I see you have already made some new friends," he said with a smile.

"Yea, we all knew we were destined for Gryffindor which is how we knew we were associating with the right kind of people," Fred said with a wink. "This is Lee," he motioned with his hand towards his right, "and that is Angelina and Marnie," he finished, moving his hand around the table.

"We all sat together on the train." George added in explanation.

Charlie smiled again.

"Well it's great to meet all of you and I'm sure we will all become better acquainted. I am your prefect after all."

He looked at all of us as if sizing up for the amount of trouble we would cause. But, he smiled and continued.

"I just wanted to congratulate you two trouble-makers on continuing the family legacy and to meet your new friends."

He then returned to his seat after Fred and George thanked him.

"Oh, by the way, the password is 'hippogriff'. You'll need to tell that to the portrait before being allowed to enter the common room." Charlie said mysteriously before walking to his original seat, presumably with his own friends.

I then glanced back to the rest of the group with a confused look on my face.

"What does he mean you have to tell the portrait?" I asked, not even comprehending what that could mean.

Fred looked over at me with an amused look on his face. "Didn't your mum go to Hogwarts; how can you be so confused about a talking portrait?"

Before I could come up with my answer Angelina interrupted, "Her mum was in Hufflepuff you tosser, how is she supposed to know the Gryffindor secret if her mum never even knew?"

She looked at Fred expectantly for a reply.

This caused Lee to start laughing and George to look a little apologetic for his twin's ongoing bluntness. It wasn't Fred's comment that had bothered me so much, I mean all of them had grown up with magical parents so they were knowledgeable about such things. I just wasn't as accustomed since my father couldn't very well show me and my mother wasn't around.

But before I let it get too awkward, with Fred not having an immediate comeback, I changed the subject.

"Fred, George, how many brothers do you actually have?" I asked looking at both of them inquisitively.

They both smiled back and answered simultaneously. "Four."

"Plus one sister who's also the youngest," George added.

"Wow, your poor mother, I thought you two were more than enough to handle," I answered smugly which caused Lee to start laughing again.

In turn, this caused Fred to swat him on the shoulder.

"You think you're so witty, don't you Hare?" Fred asked with a challenging look in his eyes.

This new nickname made me stop short of coming up with another comeback. Hare was the nickname my mother had given my father from the first time they met as kids. When their group of friends were all hanging out, my mother would refer to him and my uncle as the Hare brothers. It was sort of strange now for someone to be giving me the same name.

Fred had mistaken my brief silence for disliking the new name which caused him to dawn a devilish grin.

"Ha, I've won this round Hare. This is also your new name which you will now be forever referred to as," Fred continued to grin, giving me a challenging look for me to object.

I honestly didn't mind the new name, plus it made me feel even closer to my mother on a day I really wished I could have shared with her. I just had to make sure my dad never heard it; I didn't think he would appreciate it very much. But, since we never had any visitors anyways, I didn't think it would ever be a problem.

"Ok, I'll accept the name," I paused watching the smile grow on his face, "but for me to accept it peacefully you will forever have to save me from any danger. Live up to that Gryffindor family legacy you keep bragging on about."

I chuckled, waiting for him to react to my condition. I was surprised though to see his face change to a more serious look before he nodded in acceptance.

"Hare, I will always protect you, from any danger from now and always. You have my word."

He then stood up and offered his hand for me to shake. I stood up grinning and took it. His face remained serious which slightly baffled me since I had meant the condition jokingly. As we sat back down I looked over at George who only shrugged his shoulders. The other two were chuckling at our antics. But, before I could ask Fred anything, an older man approached the podium at the centre of the staff table. He had the longest, whitest beard I had ever seen and deep purple robes. I recognized him from my chocolate frog card collection as Albus Dumbledore, the school's headmaster. He told us that between our excitement and hunger he would wait to make his announcements until after the feast. He then sat down which prompted an assortment of food to appear on the plates that had previously been empty. The food smelled incredibly delicious as I started piling one of everything onto my plate. This prompted Lee to stare at me questioningly.

"Oi, Marnie, you're the smallest one here. Are you really going to eat all that food?" Lee asked skeptically.

I grinned back at him, "Just watch me."

As I ate all the delicious food, that somehow tasted even better than it looked, I thought back to this morning with my dad. My life had significantly changed from just this morning and it was almost incomprehensible to believe that I had already made new friends, been sorted into a house, and had finally made it to Hogwarts after all my years of waiting. I was almost afraid it was a dream since everything had so far worked out better than I ever expected or hoped for. I smiled up at my new housemates and couldn't help thinking that as incredible as it all was, the O'Hara feast still could not be replaced.


	5. Prankster Prankette

The five of us slowly headed to the Gryffindor common room after the welcoming feast. Lee had gawked at me the entire time stating that he couldn't believe how much I had eaten. I think I surpassed both him and the twins in the amount they had eaten which gave me a sense of satisfaction, especially since Fred even tried to keep up.

As we trudged up what felt like a countless amount of stairs, I saw a snip of red hair stop at a large portrait that featured a fairly large woman dressed in 18th century attire. We had been following the twin's brother Charlie since he's the Gryffindor prefect and obviously knew where we were going. Once the group of red-adorned students all stopped, I heard him say the word "Hippogriff" to the portrait lady just to see the large frame swing forward as if on a set of hinges. I didn't think I would ever get used to all the surprises that seemed to fill the castle.

We were all quite tired after having stuffed our faces, so I followed Angelina up to the first-year dorm in the girl's wing. When we opened the door we were greeted by two other girls who were already in the room sorting out their possessions. Somehow all of our things had already made their way up to the dorms. I think Remus told me that house elves were responsible for carrying up all the trunks. I frowned at realizing just how many trunks that would mean with everyone in the school.

I was interrupted in thought by one of the girls quickly approaching us with a large smile on her face. Before either I or Angelina could say anything the girl started to give us each a hug. I was taken aback by the obvious gesture of excitement and affection. I couldn't get over how friendly all of the Gryffindor's seemed to be. Maybe that was one of their main characteristics as well.

After the girl stepped back from us she introduced herself as Alicia Spinnet. I noticed the other girl roll her eyes in amusement which was telling that this is how Alicia had introduced herself to the other girl as well. We soon found out the other girls' name as we all introduced ourselves. Her name was Katie Bell and I thought she looked somewhat similar to Alicia. While Katie had darker hair than Alicia, they were both brunettes and similar in height. They also both appeared to also have more athletic builds, same as Angelina, whereas I was always more scrawny looking.

We were all settled shortly after, which left us all sitting at the ends of our beds and sharing stories about ourselves. I mentioned my father being a squib since we went around talking about our parents. I explained that my dad's brother had been in Hufflepuff but had died when I was a baby. He is also the reason my parents met since my mother and uncle ran in the same group of friends who would often all hang out at my father's childhood home during the summers. I also wanted to vet my new roommates since I didn't want to be sharing a room with anyone who reacted the same way as Marcus Flint had. I would have probably begged Dumbledore to have me re-sorted since the hat had almost put me in Hufflepuff. I was proud and protective of my dad and I refused to be friends with anyone who posed a threat to our happiness. However, the girls hadn't really reacted at all. I also told them that my dad was an editor for books written by witches and wizards.

My dad's business was run through an owl-delivery system which allowed my dad to work from home. I didn't mention however that my dad rarely left the house. Honestly, he probably left once a month to go to either Remus' or Mr. Lovegood's house. Sometimes he went into the small village about ten miles away if we needed something out of necessity. But often, Remus would just bring by groceries or the two of them would go into town while I was left with Luna and her father. I was never allowed to be at home alone. I also found out that all three of them were half-bloods which eased my anxiety about them judging my own family. Once we finished talking about our families Alicia jumped up off her bed and started rooting around her trunk.

"I have to show you guys something," Alicia said excitedly. "You've all got to try these!"

Alicia stood up from her trunk with a bag of candies in her hand. She randomly selected one for each of us before returning to sit down on her own bed with one for herself in her fingers.

"My brother gave me these before I boarded the train this morning and told me to share them with my new bunk mates," she explained while we all looked at her a little skeptically.

I had never seen these particular candies before and I looked around to see we all had different coloured ones. Mine was speckled gray with black dots while I noticed Angelina's was white with black stripes. Katie's was a solid brown colour and Alicia's was solid gray. As if sensing our hesitation Alicia put hers in her mouth first. After a couple seconds a loud trumpeting sound erupted from her mouth. She quickly brought her hands up to her face to try and stifle the loud noise which sounded more and more like an elephant. After about a minute the trumpet noise died down and Alicia's mouth finally closed. She kept her hands up as if uncertain of whether the noises would start up again. She also looked slightly embarrassed probably meaning she hadn't previously known the effects of the candies. However, the three of us just looked around at each other before breaking out into a hysterical laughter. Angelina then proceeded to put her candy into her mouth. Almost instantly she started emitting a ferocious growl which sounded like a hungry tiger. This caused us to further break into hysterics as we watched the ridiculous sight. Katie then put hers in her mouth right after Angelina piped down. She immediately started barking like a dog. I looked down at mine before deciding to join in. The sensation was automatic as it took hold. All of a sudden I had no control over my own mouth and I could hear a cackling emerge from my throat. I realized that it was a sort of continuous laughter, like a hyena. Once mine ended we all looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Your brother must have wanted to sabotage your first impression if he didn't tell you what they did," Katie said as she continued to laugh along with the rest of us.

"Well, it didn't work now did it?" Angelina asked with a smile on her face.

She turned slowly to face me with a devilish grin on her face. "Oh, I have the perfect idea for who should get the rest of these" she exclaimed as I returned a knowing smile.

"Oh, yeah. I feel some of our fellow Gryffindor's need to experience these first-hand," I said gleefully before adding, "but I think it would be better if they were unbeknownst to the effects."

Angelina nodded in approval as she then explained our meeting with Lee and the twins on the train and how a good prank may be what the start to this year needed. And this friendship. The other girls eagerly consented to the plan before deciding to call it a night.

I pulled back the blankets and closed the red curtains that covered the four-poster bed. I lay down in the sheets and went over the events of the day in my head. I felt a smile form over my face, as if uncontrollably. I couldn't have pictured a better outcome to this day; a day I had been anticipating my entire life. And this was only the beginning.

XXX  
The next night our group of first year Gryffindor's sat in a circle in the common room. Angelina and I had introduced Katie and Alicia to the boys when we had sat down for breakfast that morning. We were now all discussing our first classes which had been Herbology and Charms. Both classes seemed incredibly interesting but I had a hunch I was one of the only few who thoroughly enjoyed Herbology. But we realized that by being first year Gryffindor's together, we had all the same classes, especially since we couldn't take electives yet.

At this point in the evening, the group fell into an easy silence. This acted as a cue for the four girls to all give each other a knowing look.

"Hey guys, I have some candy here that my brother gave me, I thought we could all have one?" Alicia asked in a pretty innocent sounding voice.

I could see Katie turning away briefly to stifle a smile while Angelina and I held passive looks on our faces. Alicia handed one candy out respectively to everyone like she had done the previous night. The three boys looked far less suspicious than we had and each immediately tossed a candy into their mouths. Simultaneously the boys each started making animal-like sounds. George, who was sitting directly to my right ate an orange looking candy and was now making orangutan-sounding hollers. Fred, who was sitting at the end of the group, beside George, had eaten a dark brown looking candy and was whinnying like a horse. Lee, who was on Fred's other side, across from me ate a green candy and now had small puffs of smoke coming out of his mouth every time he made a deep roaring noise. I think he must have eaten a dragon one. All at once, after the four of us girls collected ourselves from our laughter, we all stood up and bolted for the stairs to our dormitory. The boys followed suit moments later, after the candies had fizzled out. However, we were already in our dorm when the boys started running up the staircase only to have it turn into a slide under their feet. I had read this fact in the many times I read _Hogwarts: A History_ which made it part of our prank plan in the first place. It was also easy to execute since the first-year dorm was the first door up the staircase. Plus, we knew the boys would be mistakenly trusting of us girls.

We all looked out our dorm door to see the boys fall and slide down. They were now hollering out in confusion as we laughed down at them. I could hear Lee and George cursing as they stood up at the bottom of the staircase.

"This round goes to you," Fred yelled begrudgingly. "But don't think we won't pay you back tenfold." He shouted determinedly before I heard their three sets of feet finally shuffle away from the stairs.

The four of us were still laughing and giving each other high fives. The Gryffindor girls were seeming to be a force to be reckoned with. Plus, we couldn't let the boys' confidence get too big as they had been going on about their prankster feats. I thought of all the stories Uncle Remus told me about his time at Hogwarts with his fellow Gryffindor rebels. It made me smile, despite the half-hearted warning Remus had given me on the platform. Maybe I was a little like James under all my characteristics derived from my mother. 


	6. Birthday Surprises

Over the next few weeks, we all got accustomed to life at Hogwarts. It was now the second last day of our first month and we were all bustling with excitement. September 29th was the first day of flying lessons; and it also happened to be my birthday. I was the first one awake in my dormitory which meant I didn't have to fight over the bathroom with any of my other dorm mates. We had all become quite close with each other and often spent our nights chatting on our beds when we weren't sitting in a group with Lee and the twins in the common room. The boys had taken our prank in stride; trying not to let it hurt their egos too much. It had also only been a matter of days before they used the first ever charm we learned to float dung bombs up into our dormitory during dinner. And since they had stalled us that night by playing exploding snap by the fire until a later hour than usual, our dormitory smelled absolutely horrid by the time the four of us a traipsed upstairs. But, when we rushed downstairs moments later, the boys were nowhere to be seen.

I was taking my time in the shower since our typical routine was usually all of us scrambling around at the last possible minute. After about ten minutes I stepped out and securely fastened my tattered bath robe over my body and headed over to the mirror. I stared into it, not looking or feeling any older. My hair was still the same chestnut colour that landed just above my shoulders. It had always had a slight wave to it which I knew came from my mother. I actually looked a lot like her, having the same style and colour of hair as well as my characteristic eyes. Dad liked to tell me they had a bronzish glow to them, but I always thought they looked more orange. Whichever one, they were very distinct. Sometimes I felt self-conscious with how much they stood out. I also sometimes caught Fred staring at them when we were eating or sitting around the common room together. George however always seemed to sense my unease and would toss crumpled paper or spit balls at his twin. George would also tell me randomly that although they stood out, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He explained that his red hair always automatically identified him as a Weasley anyways, which wasn't a bad thing either. I always smiled at his assurances.

I had grown fairly close with the twins, probably above all the others in our group, despite us all being very friendly. Angelina and I were also fairly close while I had noticed Katie and Alicia were always seen together. It never bothered me that we all formed different friendships with each other since we spent most meals and evenings all together anyways, along with attending all of our classes.

I walked out of the washroom to collect my robes and was surprised to see that the girls had already left the dormitory. It was odd that I hadn't heard anyone use the washroom but I supposed they all decided to go down for breakfast.

With that thought I heard my stomach grumble and decided to head down to the Great Hall. As I walked down to the common room I was immediately surprised to see all of my friends still in their pajamas standing at the bottom of the girls' staircase. The twins each held one end of a fairly large sign that said 'Happy Birthday Hare' on it. It also had a moving figure on it which I noticed was a rabbit – or hare- magically jumping around. I couldn't help but smile and roll my eyes at the obvious reference to the nickname which mostly only Fred called me by.

"Happy birthday Hare," Fred yelled up at me as I finished descending the stairs into my group of friends.

"Yea, happy birthday Marnie!" Angelina came up and gave me a big hug.

"Here you go Marnie, thought we could all have a birthday-style breakfast," Lee approached carrying what looked like a carrot cake.

"Come on guys, I'm not actually a hare you know!" I gently scolded my friends, noticing Fred giving me a smirk.

"I told you, I forever deemed you as Hare," Fred explained coolly.

He and George went to sit down in front of the fire while the rest of us followed.

I noticed all of the girls roll their eyes in response to Fred which told me this part of the plan had not been their idea. I also couldn't help but wonder if Fred actually knew that carrot cake was indeed my favourite. I doubted it since not many eleven, I mean twelve, year-olds actually liked carrot cake as their favourite.

"I can't believe you guys did all of this for me!" I exclaimed, beaming at all of my friends.

"Of course we did this for you," George piped in, "you deserve a proper birthday from your mates."

"Plus, we expect all of this for our own birthdays you know," Alicia added with a sly grin. "We had to set the bar high."

"Yea," Lee agreed, "I want my birthday to have butter beer, none of this tea nonsense," Lee indicated to the tea pot Katie was passing around.

We all chuckled at Lee while I sat down and helped myself to a piece of cake.

"Where did you guys get the food anyways?" I asked, knowing I had never seen food readily accessible outside of meal times from the Great Hall.

"Ask us no questions," George started.

"And we shall tell you no lies." Fred finished with a matching grin.

I looked at the twins ruefully before dropping the subject. Since I spent the majority of my time with the twins, I was privy to most of their secrets. And since they were already becoming characteristically known for being pranksters, they had a few many secrets to keep. For example, I knew they had a stash of dung bombs suitable to last the whole term which they had secretly bought in Diagon Alley without their mother's knowledge. They had also ventured out of the common room after hours to explore the castle numerous times while only getting caught about half the time. The worst had been when they had gotten caught by Professor Snape and had to clean all of the cauldrons until Snape deemed them adequate. That had taken nearly an entire day- on a weekend no less. I had also come along with them one night when the twins decided to show me the Astronomy Tower. We sat there for hours eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and talked about everything and nothing. The twins told me about their childhood and growing up with five other siblings. They also mentioned that their house's name was called The Burrow which I thought sounded oddly familiar. But mostly they told me of their more famous pranks as children, including almost getting their younger brother to perform an Unbreakable Vow and letting a garden gnome loose in their eldest brother's bedroom which had apparently dug a large hole in the middle of his mattress. During all of their tales though I noticed that the twins hardly pranked their sister, if ever.

We spent the early morning eating cake and discussing the upcoming flying lesson. The twins and Angelina already had experience flying on brooms while it would be the first time for the rest of us. I couldn't help thinking that my father wouldn't approve of me being on a broom, but it was school sanctioned. Plus, I was quite looking forward to the experience.

When it was nearing time to head down to the quidditch pitch, the others went up to quickly get ready so we could all head down together.

Lee was talking with the twins about the professional quidditch league, while Katie and Alicia were discussing how exhilarating it must be to fly around on a broom. This left Angelina and I to walk together in an easy silence.

"Are you nervous Marnie, about flying I mean?" Angelina asked in a lowered voice which I understood to mean she was making sure the others wouldn't hear.

Angelina was always understanding of my lack of knowledge of magical things despite not being a Muggleborn. I had confided in her about my dad's protectiveness and how I practically grew up a muggle, not that I necessarily minded. I also mentioned how reclusive my life had been and that my dad preferred to remain away from most of everyone else. Angelina had been understanding and not at all judgmental but I was still hesitant to tell the others of the extent of my dad's nature. I was confident however that they would react similarly to Angelina. George would also sometimes take the time to explain things if he saw that I was confused or struggling, not that I ever let on that easily.

"I'm fine Ange, thanks," I responded to her question. "I'm actually pretty excited, I've never been able to do anything like this before. Plus, it has to be safe if the school requires that every first year learn how to fly." I added with growing confidence.

Angelina smiled back at me and nodded.

We had just reached the pitch and I saw a teacher approaching us with spiky gray hair and yellowish eyes. Immediately, I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one outside of my family with peculiar eye colouring.

"Good morning boys and girls, I'm Madam Hooch. Welcome to your first flying lesson. Everyone gather round and stand beside a vacant broom which I have already laid out for you," she said with a no-nonsense air of authority.

I headed towards a pair of broomsticks with Angelina before we both waited for the next instruction.

"Alright, now that everyone has their own broom, we can get started. Now, in order to take control of the broom, everyone must raise their dominant hand above their broom and yell 'UP'. This will cause the broom to ascend into your hand. Everyone got that? Alright, on my mark- three, two, one…" and then she blew her whistle.

I raised my left hand over the broom and hesitated.

"Up," I said, trying to find a louder voice than the one being swallowed down my throat.

The broom rolled around on the ground, raised an inch, and then dropped back down. I looked over at Angelina to see her broom swiftly raise into her hand on her first attempt. The same thing happened with the twins, Alicia and Katie who all had wild grins on their faces. Lee's broom was also slowly raising up into his hand, albeit with a little less fervor than the others.

"Remember how much you were looking forward to this," Angelina reminded me gently.

I nodded towards Angelina before turning back to my own broom more determinately.

"UP!" I shouted, immediately causing the broom to come evenly up into my hand.

I looked back at Angelina with a pleased grin on my face.

"Alright children, the next step is to mount your brooms. Once secure, push up off the ground, hover for a few moments, and return firmly back down." Madam Hooch instructed.

The rest of the lesson went fairly well. I was a little shaky on the broom at first, but I was able to complete the tasks that Madam Hooch instructed. Towards the end of the lesson she even let us fly around the pitch a few feet above the ground in single file while she went alongside us to make sure nothing happened or any student got too overzealous or confident.

It was an incredible feeling to have the wind in my face and feel weightless above the ground. I almost wanted to raise my arms like wings but then figured I would have fallen and ended any chance of flying ever again if my father heard of a related injury.

At the end of the lesson, the seven of us headed over to the lake. Flying lessons had replaced Potions class for the day which was a birthday present all in itself. We all lazed around in what was probably one of the few nice days left of the season. The boys eventually started a competition to see who could go into the lake the farthest without disturbing the giant squid. They each only made it to shin depth before the giant creature would come and prohibit them from venturing any farther.

When the sun started to sink in the sky, I started to hear my stomach growl.

"Oi Marnie, I think you have a wildebeest living in that stomach of yours, I can hear it from here!" Lee exclaimed, who was sitting the furthest away from where I was sitting.

I stuck my tongue out at him for his characteristic lack of tact.

Before I could answer, Fred, who was sitting beside Lee, elbowed him in the stomach.

"That is no way to address Hare on her birthday you git," Fred told Lee in what I felt was an exaggerated tone.

"Come on Marnie, shall I escort you to dinner?" George asked more humbly as he bowed down and extended his arm towards me.

I took it, giggling at both of the twin's antics before having both him and Fred escort me to the castle while the others followed close behind.

I also saw Angelina try to punch Lee in the arm, presumably for his comment, but missed since he proceeded to run away from her. This caused the two of them to start running towards the castle in an attempt for Ange to catch Lee. Katie and Alicia laughed in delight as they cheered Angelina on and also ran to keep up.

The twins and I were the last to reach the castle having been farther behind the others who were most likely already in the Great Hall; unless Lee was cowering off somewhere avoiding Angelina's wrath. I noticed however that the twins were leading me off in another direction away from the Great Hall.

"Hey, I thought we were going to dinner?" I asked the twins who both smiled down at me.

"Oh but we are Hare," Fred answered, mussing the hair on the top of my head.

"We couldn't share our secret with the others, but since it is your birthday," George explained.

"-and you are our very best friend," Fred added, causing me to involuntarily blush.

"-we are going to share our secret with you." George finished with a wink.

We descended down a few staircases and were situated in where I thought was almost directly under the Great Hall. Fred approached a portrait of a fruit bowl and wiggled his finger over a painted pear, while George kept his arm looped through mine. He watched his brother with a knowing smile and I was surprised to hear the pear actually giggle in response to Fred's action. The frame then proceeded to open much like the Fat Lady's portrait for the Gryffindor common room. George then lightly guided my arm through the hidden entryway that Fred had already stepped through.

After we entered the hidden room I immediately noticed that we were standing in an extremely large kitchen that had four tables looking and positioned identical to those in the Great Hall. I also noticed the large amount of house elves who were all bustling around.

"Oh! Mr. Wheezies!" I heard a high-pitched voice say as I looked over to see a house elf running over in greeting.

"Mr. Wheezies! You have come back to visit! Posy is so happy!" the house elf went on, who was undoubtedly named Posy. "Oh, Mr. Wheezies have a guest. A pretty girl! What does Posy call you miss?" the squeaky house elf looked up with bright eyes.

"Oh, my name, my name is Marnie," I stuttered, taken aback by her sheer excitement.

"Miss Marnee!" Posy exclaimed. "You must follow Posy, Posy will get you some dinner," she said, pulling on my other hand with George still latched onto my arm.

Posy guided us to a small table tucked into the corner of the large kitchen. No sooner had we found our seats that the house elf was already setting off to get us some food.

"Oi, Posy," Fred said to get the house elf's attention. She quickly turned around in acknowledgement.

"It's Marnie's birthday. Could you maybe whip up something extra special?" Fred asked causing Posy to let out a shriek of excitement.

"Oh yes, Mr Wheezy! Miss Marnee, you don't worry now, Posy get you something extra special for your birthday!" Posy then ran off into the crowd of other house elves before I could object.

"How did you find this place?" I asked as I looked at the two boys sitting on either side of me.

"Our brother Charlie told us about it. I think Bill told him before us." George explained.

"Yea, but no one told Percy. We all figured he would rat us out or something." Fred added with a grimace.

"Well, thank-you for sharing the family secret," I responded to the twins.

"Of course Marnie, you're our best friend. How could we not tell you?" George said with a smile.

I looked up at Fred who was vigorously nodding in agreement.

Moments later we were interrupted by a bustling Posy who was carrying what looked like five platters of food. She set them down haphazardly and took off the silver tops to present large amounts of my favourite foods including roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, scallop potatoes, corn bread, and chocolate pie. I was amazed at how Posy could even remotely know what my favourite foods were.

"Here you go Mr. Wheezies and Miss Marnee," Posy said before running off to do something else.

"This is amazing! These are all my favourite foods! Absolutely incredible!" I smiled, already piling the food onto my plate.

The twins just smiled back at me, grabbing their own plates and dug in.

An hour later we were all stuffed and Posy took the plates and trays away. We decided that it was probably time to head up to the common room before it got past curfew. We then slowly climbed out of the portrait hole after bidding the house elves goodbye.

"Hey George, isn't the Hufflepuff common room just down the hall?" Fred asked with a mischievous grin.

"Why Fred, I do believe you are correct," George answered while I could see both of them grabbing some dung bombs from within their pockets.

"Hare, you are the birthday girl, care to throw the first bomb?" Fred asked with a grin and extended his hand out.

I accepted it, grinning back at Fred. We crept down the hall and lucked out when we saw an older student step out of what looked like a stack of barrels and headed in the opposite direction than where we were standing. We took the fleeting opportunity to chuck the dung bombs into the common room before sprinting back in the direction we had come from. Unfortunately, we ran right over a cat; Mrs. Norris.

"Who dares hurt my precious cat!" Filch scathed at us as he rounded the corner and bent down to assess his stupid pet.

The twins looked loathsome at the caretaker while I just sighed. Some way to end my birthday.


	7. Quidditch and Christmas

Filch's detention had been pretty horrible. He made us clean all the toilets in the dungeons which were mostly frequented by the Slytherins. George told me afterwards that the boys' washroom smelt like a troll had been hibernating in there. Fred on the other hand had been uncharacteristically quiet, only talking with George for the rest of the week. He seemed angry, but none of the rest of us had any idea of what was setting him off. It wasn't like it was their first- or probably their last- detention at Hogwarts.

It was now a week after the detention had taken place and I was sitting in the library with Angelina studying for our upcoming Herbology test. The book I was reading was explaining the 212 uses of foxglove when I felt Angelina kick me from under the desk.

I looked up with an incredulous expression before noticing the twins slowly approaching our table. Well, more accurately, George was pushing Fred towards the table while the two were obviously having a whispered disagreement.

"Marnie, Freddie here has something he would like to share," George exclaimed with a smile on his face.

He then looked back at Fred who looked like he was contemplating turning back. This forced George to grab his elbow and shove him forward.

Fred let out an exasperated sigh when he saw his twin was not budging on his decision to force Fred to say whatever it was they had initially discussed. I was at a loss for what Fred could possibly have to say, especially after all of this effort.

"So, uh, Hare…. The thing is…." He paused while looking back at George who gave him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. "Hare, I'm sorry I failed you." Fred finished with a dejected look and stared down at his feet.

I looked back at him in shock, not knowing what to say or even make of the situation. I quickly looked over to George for guidance who just nodded towards Fred in response.

"Fred, how could you possibly think you failed me? You and George are my best friends." I responded at once, still trying to rack my brain for some sort of sensical explanation as to why Fred was feeling this way.

"Unless, you did something behind my back?' I suggested, already doubting Fred would ever do that.

"NO! Oh Merlin! No!" Fred sputtered as if the insinuation itself was preposterous. "No, the detention!" He explained frantically, still horrified at the idea of doing anything behind my back.

"The detention? That's what this is about. That's why you have been avoiding all of us for the past week?" I asked in an incredulous tone.

"Well yea," Fred said matter-of-factly. "I swore to protect you. And that includes from slimy gits like Filch." Fred explained more confidently.

I shook my head in bafflement. "Fred you idiot! Being your best friend makes me a fellow prankster by extension. Plus, I do recall that we…" as I pointed between myself and Angelina,"… started the pranking wars anyway. You can't beat yourself up about getting detention. I mean, we were all caught red handed." I finished.

Fred took a moment before he looked back up at me.

"So, you forgive me?" Fred asked in a surprised tone.

"You git, I was never mad at you in the first place. Just glad to have my best friend back. Brooding is not a good look for you mate," I added while smiling at him.

"You two are hopeless," Angelina said looking between the two of us while shaking her head.

"Ain't that the truth," George added also smiling in relief. "Glad to have that wrapped up." He added as both he and Fred sat down to join us, with absolutely no intention of studying.

XXX

After our so-called incident was wrapped up, our group dynamic thankfully returned to normal. I found it extremely odd at how seriously Fred was taking this whole protecting thing. I even asked George about it, since he was always the more grounded of the two. But George had just shrugged it off, telling me that I knew how Fred was. After that, I let it go deciding it wasn't necessary to give it much more thought.

The only thing any of my friends seemed interested in discussing now was the first quidditch game of the year which was quickly approaching. It was to take place in the middle of October, between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Our prefect, who was also the twins' brother Charlie, was also due to play in the game as Gryffindor's captain and seeker. He was also reportedly very good as per the twins and seeing as how they talked about Percy and Ron, I didn't think they were just talking Charlie up for the sake of family.

I knew it was the morning of game even before I opened my eyes. I could sense all three girls hovering over my bed before they decidedly started jostling me in an attempt to wake me up.

"Geroff me," I grumbled, causing them to laugh and toss me my robes.

"Get up Marnie! We have to be able to get good seats to watch the game." Katie said.

I could hear her walk away towards the washroom presumably to finish getting ready.

"Do not go back to sleep Marnie!" Ange yelled warningly. "I will jump on you!"

"Oo, that's how I get my brother out of bed at home. I can still outrun him, so that's how I still get away with it." Alicia laughed before she followed Katie.

"Alight, alright, I'm up," I said groggily, lifting myself out of bed.

I started almost blindly putting on my robes after having removed my sleeping clothes. Once I had my uniform on haphazardly, I heard what sounded like a pelting sound at the door. Since the other three were in the washroom, I hesitantly went to the door and opened it, but was confused when there was nobody there. Dazed, I stuck my head out to look around the staircase only to see a small rock whizzing through the air aimed directly at my head. In a sobering instant I quickly ducked out of the way, narrowly avoiding the flying object.

"Who is sending rocks to our door?" I yelled down the staircase, not wanting to enter the common room before I washed up a little or tamed my hair.

"Hurry up you lot, we need to eat before we head out to the pitch and we need to be able get good seats!" Fred explained in an exasperated tone.

"Oi, you gits almost hit me!" I yelled back, knowing Lee and George must also be there.

"Well we can't see where you are," explained George.

"And we just wanted you lot to hurry up," added Lee.

I groaned at them exasperatingly and slammed the door having no energy to argue with them. But as I walked towards the washroom I could have sworn I heard Lee say 'Ow' and at least one of the twins speaking in an annoyed tone.

Twenty minutes later we all headed out to the pitch after having hastily scarfed down some food. As we walked by, both twins patted Charlie on the shoulder while the rest of us smiled and wished him good luck. I also noticed the full plate of food in front of him which still looked untouched.

We were indeed some of the first few people to make it to the pitch much to the delight of my friends. We found our seats located in the front-center of the stands, although slightly more towards the Gryffindor side to avoid enemy territory. The twins were telling me how they thought Hufflepuff's weren't all that good at playing quidditch although I suspected they were probably just biased. On the other had I had never seen an actual quidditch game while I knew the twins played in their back yard. So they definitely knew more than I did.

"I can't wait til it's us out there Georgie," Fred said thrillingly.

"I couldn't agree with you more Freddie! We'll make Gryffindor proud," George returned triumphantly.

"You guys are going to try-out for the quidditch team?" I asked, this being the first time I had heard the twins mention it.

"Of course Marnie, quidditch is one of our favourite things. It's one of the main reasons we were looking forward to coming to Hogwarts in the first place," George answered with Fred smiling in agreeance.

"We are going to be beaters," Fred said as I remembered those were the two positions who hit the balls called bludgers at other players from the opposing team.

"Yea, well you're looking at your chaser team right here," Katie piped in as she indicated to Alicia and Ange.

I knew there were three chasers on a team who scored points by throwing the quaffle through either of the three hoops on the opposite team's end. Seriously, this is all any of them would talk about for weeks. Plus, I had read my mom's book about the intricacies of the game more times than I could count.

Fred and George smiled in approval to what Katie said while Lee explained that he had an interest in announcing the games. When they all stopped talking about their dreams of entering the quidditch team they all looked at me.

"Marnie, you should be the seeker!" Alicia exclaimed with the others nodding enthusiastically.

"Way better than the keeper!" Fred added.

"Plus, you're small so you can speed to the snitch faster. Seekers are usually small for that reason," Angelina explained.

I looked up at all of them who were all decisively set on playing quidditch, and probably had been long before they started school.

"I don't think I want to," I answered calmly.

Sure, I loved flying lessons but I had never once thought about joining the team, even when I was waiting to start school. It wasn't just because I thought my dad would avidly forbid me from playing, but I had never had a passion for it like my friends surely had. And I thought that was probably a very important aspect for the team.

"But you know," I interrupted before they could all start questioning me, "you will have a number one fan in the stands, which is a very important commodity," I explained coolly.

They all smiled at me and agreed before turning their attention to the pitch where the teams were entering from opposite sides. I could see Charlie walking towards the center where he met a girl with her brown hair tied back into pigtails in front of Madam Hooch. The girl looked to be about Charlie's age. They shook hands and then returned to their respective teams before mounting their brooms. Madam Hooch mounted her own broom shortly after before magically releasing the balls from their case. After a moment the flying teacher blew her whistle and the players were off.

During the game I quickly looked back and forth between all of the players, trying to decipher what was going on. Lee, who was sitting beside me, started to commentate the game to our group which became immensely helpful. Fifteen minutes after the game had started Charlie caught the snitch. Gryffindor won 230-60.

XXX

Over the next few months we all became busier as classes came into full swing and teachers seemingly wanted to cram our young brains with as much knowledge as they could before Christmas break. I was excited at the thought of seeing my father whom I had been writing to almost every day. I had obviously told him about being sorted into Gryffindor and meeting most of my friends on the train; just like mum! I also explained my classes to him, telling him my favourite was Herbology, as well as flying lessons. I also assured him that I had been safe but had then left out the pranks I pulled and the detentions I had received; mostly with the twins. The detention I had received on my birthday had not been my first and I later drilled it into Fred's head that it was not his fault if I was ever with him when I got punished. He had begrudgingly agreed.

All of my friends were also getting excited to return home to their families. Angelina explained that her family always went to her granny's cottage in order to go skiing. Lee's family typically went to his uncle's place in the city where his entire family got together and where he would hang around with his cousins. Alicia on the other hand typically had a quieter, family Christmas with her brother, same as Katie, who stayed at home with her parents and grandpa. The twins also explained to me what their Christmas's consisted of; like how their mother spent all year knitting each of them a personalized sweater and the big feast she prepared for their entire family. The only thing the twins didn't seem to like was that their mother played Celestina Warbeck who apparently was a witch who only sang sappy love songs to which their mother cherished. After hearing the twins' stories, even despite the questionable music, the Weasley Christmas sounded pretty spectacular. For my own Christmas I knew Remus would come over and spend the night Christmas Eve, barring it wasn't a full moon, and the three of us would wake up early the next morning to exchange gifts. Dad would also cook us a full breakfast, much like the one he had made on September first and we would then spend the day lounging around. I would usually spend it reading since I always got a new book, and then we settle in to eat a large roast at the end of the day. I was always in charge of the dessert, which had been chocolate pudding when I was younger, but last year I managed to make a pumpkin pie. I hadn't ever thought that I needed anything else than what I had with my family, but the chaos and craze of the Weasley holidays sounded like something that I curiously wanted to experience.

A week later we were finally boarding the Hogwarts Express to go home for the holidays. The seven of us all crammed into a compartment and excitedly talked about our studies being temporarily on hiatus. Currently, I was talking to Lee about which class we were most thankful to be over; Potions or History of Magic.

"Excuse us for a moment," George interrupted as he and Fred stood up and opened the sliding door.

I noticed Fred trying to inconspicuously rub his sleeve over the glass before slipping out.

"We have some business to attend to, be back soon," Fred answered, already making his way down the hall.

I stared after them inquisitively before turning back to Lee.

Ten minutes later the twins returned with the slight smell of gunpowder following in their wake. I looked at them quizzically but they just smiled and started talking to Ange about how they were bound to go skating on the pond behind their house. Moments later though a very angry Marcus Flint came stomping down the hallway before stopping outside our door and glaring into our compartment. It was obvious there had been some kind of small explosion since his face had gray ash all over it and his hair was standing straight up. It also looked like his eyebrows were singed. Lee was trying to hold back his obvious laughter while I saw the girls snicker at his appearance.

After a glaring moment he went to open our compartment before the twins stood up defiantly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," George told him tauntingly.

"Yea, that thing is rigged to blow," Fred added with his hands crossed over his chest.

Flint looked as if he was contemplating whether their words were true or not before hesitantly reaching to open the door; deciding that the twins were lying.

"Look at you Flint, greasier than normal, and a face that's already blown up," George interrupted causing Flint to pause in his movement.

"Plus, I don't think no eye-brows would be a good look for you, they're already half gone," Fred continued causing Flint to pull his hands up to his brow line as if trying to confirm Fred's words.

At this point I tried to hold back my laughter at Flint's appearance and skiddish behavior.

Flint looked down at me with malice.

"You dirty squib, you can't hide behind these weasels forever," Flint sneered but then stormed off in the same direction he had come from.

At once Lee and the girls started applauding which caused George to take a bow. Fred however sat down beside me and put his hand over mine which was resting on my knee.

"I'll always protect you Marnie, no one will ever hurt you. I won't let them," he said solemnly and hugged me.

I was still surprised at how serious Fred could be when someone even slightly tried to offend me. But, as my head looked over his shoulder during our embrace it was then that I saw the words _Dirty_ _Squib_ scrawled in someone's breath on the compartment door, haphazardly erased.

When we exited the train a few hours later the others ran off to their families after giving their hurried good-byes. I remained with the twins as we surveyed the crowd looking for our parents. The twins smiled when they saw a woman come bustling through the crowd with a warm smile and matching red hair.

"Fred! George!" the woman shouted, waving her hand and hurrying over to our location. I also saw a young boy and girl, both with red hair, following closely behind the woman. They must be Ron and Ginny.

The woman approached the twins and pulled them into a hug before letting go and glancing over at me.

"Oh dear, you must be Marnie! The twins have told me so much about you!" the woman smiled before she hugged me in greeting. I was taken aback at the outward motherly affection which made me frown slightly.

"Mrs. Weasley," I said when the woman let me go, "it's nice to meet you too!"

"Oh dearie, call me Molly! And this is Ron and Ginny," she added, gesturing down to the two young children.

Before I could say anything else I saw my dad approaching from the crowd. In response I ran up to him and jumped into his open arms.

"Dad! I've missed you so much!" I said as I buried myself into his chest. "Come, you have to meet my best friends!" I added and led him by the hand a few feet over to where the Weasleys stood. But before I could introduce my dad, Mrs. Weasley was already extending her hand towards my father.

"Joss, I hadn't realized you were Marnie's father," Mrs. Weasley said as my father took her outstretched hand and clasped his other hand on top.

"It's good to see you again, Molly. I am glad to confirm that my daughter's decidedly best friends are indeed your sons," my father added as the twins and I looked between them in bewilderment.

"How do you know Mrs. Weasley?" I asked as the twins asked their mother how she knew my father.

"Oh, we know each other from years ago," dad said with a tint of sadness in his voice which was almost imperceptible. I knew this to mean that they had known each other from the war.

Because of this I didn't press the matter further since I was fairly confident in my assumption. I noticed the twins had stopped their own line of questioning, maybe also knowing of the underlying insinuation of the war.

"Joss, you are welcome at the Burrow anytime you know, if you feel up to it I mean," Mrs. Weasley said knowingly. I became intrigued with the level of which Mrs. Weasley apparently knew my father.

"Thank-you Molly, I appreciate the invitation. We will have to take you up on that offer one day," my father said with a smile on his face. I was actually surprised and elated at the prospect of my father going anywhere that wasn't Remus' or Mr. Lovegood's. I did often worry at the amount of friends my father seemingly lacked, especially with me at school.

"Well we better get going Marnie, your uncle is waiting for you at home," my father said as I hugged the twins and went to leave, but not without Mrs. Weasley giving me another hug.

I waved back at the Weasley's seeing that Percy and Charlie had caught up with their family as we left the platform. I couldn't help thinking that the twin's mother was even more amazing than I had anticipated.

XXX

I woke up Christmas day to the smell of waffles and bacon. Feeling the chilled air of my room I almost wanted to stay under my warm covers but my stomach growled in protest. I was also sure that our small fireplace would have a fire going since it was typical for my dad to light one during the winter months. Decidedly, with trepidation, I jumped out of bed and grabbed my ratty cloak and slippers before rushing out of my bedroom and cascaded down the stairs into the front entryway. Turning around to head towards the kitchen I saw that my dad and Remus were already there, both with a cup of tea in hand. My dad was still preparing the food while my uncle sat at our small counter on a stool. I couldn't quite hear what they were talking about due to the crackling fire and they went quiet when Remus saw me approaching.

"Good morning Marnie, Happy Christmas!" Remus exclaimed, setting his cup down to give me a hug.

Dad put the last waffle onto the stacked plate and set it down on the table before turning to me and giving me a hug as well.

"Happy Christmas Love," dad said as he kissed my forehead.

He released me moments later so we could all sit down at the table. It was always our tradition to eat breakfast before presents since my dad said he preferred to see my reaction to the gifts, which he wouldn't be able to if they were left at the foot of my bed.

Uncle Remus asked me all about my classes and was especially interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I told him we were learning about merpeople and that my favourite class was Herbology which I saw made my dad smile. I also told him about my flying lesson and how I hadn't gotten it right away before Angelina had helped me.

"Oh Marnie, don't worry. You seem to have picked it up well!" Remus said encouragingly before he started to chuckle.

"James and Sirius were pros much like you say your friends are, but I struggled a bit. It was James who had to encourage me that I could fly. I think it was about the third or fourth time that the broom went into my hand. And poor Peter…" Remus added, "…. His broom didn't even move the first couple of times he commanded. I think he finally got it around his twelfth time." He paused as if caught in his own memories.

"But nothing beats that first feeling of flying through the air," Remus added wistfully.

We continued talking about school and what I thought of Hogwarts in general while we finished breakfast. Remus magically cleared the dishes once we were done and I dashed for the tree. I knew dad cut it down from the forest that surrounds the meadow around our yard. It had always been our tradition to go out into the woods on December first to select a tree. When I was younger my dad would bundle me in a snowsuit before setting me on a ramshackle sled and pulling me out into the woods. I would always choose a tree much too tall for our cottage and my dad would have to convince me on another one. It made me sad that my dad had done it alone this year.

"This one's for you Marnie," Remus held out a gift wrapped in brown packing paper.

I opened it to reveal a book called _The Lesser Known Uses for Magical Herbs and Where to Find Them._

I looked up at Uncle Remus and gave him a huge bearlike hug.

"Thank-you so much uncle!" I exclaimed, already wanting to read it.

"You're very welcome Marnie, I gathered you were really enjoying Herbology from the letters you sent me," he responded.

We then started opening the rest of the presents. I gave Remus a Gryffindor coloured scarf and dad a magic mug which kept your tea continually warm since he was always leaving it around the house and forgetting about it until hours later.

We continued until there was only one present left under the tree which my dad reached for and handed over to me.

I opened the small gift to uncover a small velvet box. Inside was a gold chain necklace with an empty pendant.

"It belonged to your mother. We had agreed that once you attended your first year at Hogwarts we would give it you. Why don't you try it on?" dad suggested as he took it from me and placed it around my neck.

I looked down to admire the necklace and saw that the once empty pendant had changed to a red ruby. I looked up to my dad in astonishment.

"It changes to whatever house you're sorted into. When your mother had it, it had been amber to represent Hufflepuff," dad explained before I even asked the question.

"What beautiful magic," Remus said as he inspected the necklace.

I was speechless at the thought that my mother had worn the necklace when she attended Hogwarts. I also couldn't fathom the form of magic which recognized her as a Hufflepuff and myself as a Gryffindor.

"Thank-you," I whispered as I buried my head in my dad's chest and gave him a hug. I felt tears pang my eyes and willed them to go away. I didn't want my dad to think I was upset when I was quite the opposite.

"I have an idea Marnie," my dad said as he gently pulled me away from him so he could look at me. "Why don't we go visit your mother? You haven't seen her since the end of summer."

I nodded fervently still not trusting my voice from breaking. I hurried up the stairs to get dressed.

Fifteen minutes later I came bustling down the stairs. Remus agreed to apparate us individually to save time from the long drive to see where my mother was. He decided to take my father first so he would be waiting for my arrival. Once Remus apparated with me, he left us and agreed to return in a couple of hours so he could prepare the feast for tonight.

I took my dad's hand as he led me down the familiar way to where my mother was. I always got sad coming here for obvious reasons but was also happy to have this connection to her.

When we arrived in her wing I saw a familiar boy walking towards us.

"Hi Neville, happy Christmas," I said rushing over to hug the younger boy. I had known Neville for years and had grown quite fond of the timid boy. I had promised him that I would look out for him once he entered Hogwarts in a couple years. I had also written him a couple letters assuring him there was nothing to be scared of, except maybe the Potions master.

"Oh hi Marnie," Neville replied as he happily returned the embrace. "I've stopped in to see your mum briefly this morning, she's looking quite well," Neville said giving me an encouraging smile.

It was difficult being two young children who bonded over the torture of their parents at the hands of Death Eaters. I waved at him, promising to say good-bye to him and his gran before leaving.

We continued down the hall before turning into the familiar room that was now my mother's home. My dad was first to enter with me close behind. I surveyed the walls which were covered in drawings I had made for her over the years. There were also pictures of me everywhere from different stages of my life plus some of the letters I had written to my dad while at Hogwarts.

"Good morning Lena," dad said quietly once my mother noticed our arrival.

She was shuffling around her room, tinkering with the trinkets on the shelf at the far end. Most of the items were odd bits and rubbish she found around the hospital but some were actual objects dad would bring her to keep her occupied. I saw the sad smile on his face that he always got when seeing her.

She started waving energetically once she noticed us without saying anything. She was often very quiet, not saying much. But she always had a happy demeanor and would show us around her room. Today was no different as she noticed me and took my hand to guide me over to her shelf. She started showing me her collection as I picked up a dried flower which dad must have brought her over the summer. I went to show her the flower when I caught her looking down at me and pointing to my necklace.

"Yellow," she said still looking at my ruby red necklace.

I looked at my mother with an astonished gaze.

"That's right Lena, yours used to be yellow," my dad responded to the rare utterance of my mother speaking.

At my dad's words she nodded her head vigorously before turning back to her collection. For the rest of our visit my mother only mumbled to herself on occasion and didn't say anything else to us. We had taken her down to the cafeteria where we all ate Christmas cakes and pudding. Watching my mother, it always looked as if she were in a childish daze. It was difficult to comprehend, although I loved my mother with all my heart, I had never known her as anything different. She had been tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange near the same time as Neville's parents. My mother had been on a special mission for the Order of the Phoenix and had gotten captured by the Death Eater before she could report back to the others. Apparently, my mother had been trying to protect Lily and James after discovering Frank and Alice. The details were fuzzy and despite how honest me and my dad were with each other, the torture of my mother was definitely not a topic he liked to explain, especially to his eleven-year-old daughter.

I had never been angry at my mother or felt abandoned by her. I was actually quite proud of her for fighting for our family and friends. For a better world, without dark magic. But looking into my mother's eyes and not seeing any recognition or even essence of being an adult woman was cruel. My deepest most secret place in my heart almost wished she had died. There seemed to be much crueler fates than death. But every time I pictured visiting my mother's grave instead of hospital bed made me feel anguish, despair, and reluctance. This is why I sometimes doubted that I wasn't a coward; that I even belonged in Gryffindor, because I couldn't picture this kindness for my mother.

A couple hours later, when my mother was falling asleep in her bed, we bid her good-bye. I hugged my mum, putting a smile on her face before leaving for the next room to see Neville.

"Your baby is a Gryffindor Lena," Joss whispered to his wife before he bent down to kiss the top of her head and pulled the blankets over her.

He stood up and exited the room to find his daughter which meant he didn't hear the whisper from his wife.

"Red."

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 **I am super happy with this chapter and hope everyone liked the ending. I know this is a sad reveal about the mother but I've known this was the case since I started the story. More chapters to come!**


	8. Sticks and Stones

The rest of the holiday flew by. Remus, dad and I spent New Year's Eve together, as per tradition. It was a quiet evening but dad made his famous maple-glazed goose. Luna and her father also stopped by, since Mr. Lovegood was the one to provide the goose, which was a nice opportunity to visit with the younger girl. I showed Luna my book on Herbology while she brought along her newest book on _The Unknown Magical Creatures of Morocco._ It had been our past time to share our books and I always found Luna had the most interesting and most obscure collection.

After New Year's everything was quiet and before long my father was escorting me back to King's Cross. It was only a few moments after entering the platform we heard the sounds of a woman calling out to us. We turned around to see Mrs. Weasley leading her children towards us with a beaming smile on her face. I could see Ginny holding on to her mother's arm as they approached with Ron on her other side. The twins were also following closely behind with matching grins on their faces.

"Oh Marnie dear, I hope you had a good Christmas!" Mrs. Weasley beamed at me. "I just wanted to make sure I saw you off before you got on the train," she added, bringing me in for a hug.

"Oo Mum, look at her pretty necklace," I heard Ginny say and saw her pointing to my mother's pendant hanging around my neck.

"Don't point Ginevra, it's rude," Mrs. Weasley scolded her daughter before turning back to me.

"That is a beautiful necklace Marnie," Mrs. Weasley said kindly. "I remember your mother always wearing it everywhere she went. A beautiful piece of magic."

I gaped at her response.

I had already deduced that Mrs. Weasley had probably known my mother since she seemed to know my father from the war. But it was startling to hear a comment like that from someone I still hardly knew. Of course, my father and Remus mentioned mum all the time, but it was always hard imagining other people knowing her before she was tortured. Especially when many of those people had either been tortured themselves, imprisoned, or had died.

My thoughts were interrupted by the screech of the warning whistle. I hugged my dad fiercely, holding back a sudden string of tears before he kissed me and nudged me off towards the train; it was still difficult to leave my father behind. But the twins looped their arms through mine and guided me towards the steam engine to find a compartment with our friends. We were lucky enough to find a vacant one with a view facing the platform where I could see my father talking with Mrs. Weasley. It looked as if they were old friends catching up which made me hopeful yet again that my dad would branch out of his comfort zone to rekindle an old friendship.

Lee and the girls soon found us as the train set off for Hogwarts. We all talked about our Christmases and the presents we received. No one was quite as enthusiastic about my book as Luna had been and I was slightly jealous of the homemade sweaters the twins were sporting. Fred's was blue which I found brought out his bright eyes whereas George's was green. They also had large letters on the front to signify their first names. I felt most people would find this helpful to depict each one from their identical nature, but I didn't need sweaters.

Before long we arrived back at Hogwarts and gorged ourselves at the Return Feast. Soon after, we each declared that we were all pretty exhausted and decided to head to bed, especially since we had already caught up on the train. Up in our dorm the girls quickly got into their beds and fell asleep moments later while I laid there for a while thinking about my dad back home and feeling guilty for what felt like me abandoning him and my mother. I knew she probably wouldn't even notice my absence but my dad and I often visited her in the hospital; at least once a week all throughout my childhood. It had been straining on both of us to have my mother the way she was when I was growing up. Dad was raising me on his own, and the reality of a sick wife had turned my father into a recluse.

I held my pendant which almost seemed to be glowing red in my palm as I drifted off into a fitful sleep. After a while I started to dream of my mother wearing the yellow pendant while screaming out to me as I tried to get to her. But before I could there was a flash of green and the pendant turned red.

The next morning I headed down the stairs earlier than usual since I had been plagued with unsettling dreams. I was surprised to see the twins already up, huddled together by the fire. When I went to approach them George turned around with a smile having sensed my presence.

"Hey Marnie," he said as I sat down.

"Good morning Hare," Fred added with a smile.

"We need to give you your Christmas present," George added which caused me to look at him wide-eyed.

"But I didn't get you guys anything, I thought we decided that!" I exclaimed, remembering the discussion the seven of us had had at the beginning of December.

"Don't fret little Hare," Fred cooed provokingly.

I leaned over to swat him.

"It's nothing we paid for, it's just our deepest, most prized secret," George explained mysteriously.

I was already privy to most of their secrets but I had no idea what they were talking about.

"We've had it since your birthday actually, but it took us a few months to figure it out," Fred said before taking out a large piece of parchment.

"Yea, and we haven't really had a good opportunity to show you without the rest of the gang," George continued as I looked at both of them eagerly.

"Well, come out with it then, what is it?" I asked, already intrigued and growing impatient with the twins explanation.

Fred obligingly laid the piece of parchment between the three of us and brought his wand to it. I noticed George inch towards the paper as if creating a closer barrier away from potentially prying eyes. I followed suit, leaning in to see what was so special about this blank piece of parchment.

Fred tapped his wand before speaking an unusual incantation.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

This immediately caused ink to appear. I didn't get a chance to read the title though as Fred unfolded the parchment to reveal a map. Before I could ask what the map was for I saw three familiar names scrawled together in what looked like the Gryffindor common room.

 _Marnie O'Hara_

 _Fred Weasley_

 _George Weasley_

The names were in a circular formation much like how the three of us were sitting.

"Bloody hell!" I swore which caused George to chuckle and Fred to look at me aghast. I usually didn't swear, and I'm pretty sure I had never sworn in front of the twins.

"Pretty cool huh?" George asked.

"It shows the entire castle and everyone in it. It also shows when people are moving which is how we will be more successful in our future nighttime adventures," Fred explained with a sly grin.

"Brilliant!" I exclaimed, my eyes hovering over the map.

I could see the girls moving about in the dorm as well as a stagnant Lee who was obviously still sleeping. I could also see Professor McGonagall heading out of the staff room with the school healer Madam Pomfrey. Further on there were some Slytherins walking around the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room who were obviously up to no good.

"Yea, so we can use this anytime we want and will never get caught. It's fool proof!" Fred exclaimed excitedly.

"The only thing you have to remember once you're finished is to tap your wand over the parchment and say 'mischief managed' or else anyone can read it," George added demonstratively.

George waved his wand over the parchment and I saw the black ink disappear, leaving the map blank again.

"That's unbelievable! Where'd you get a thing like that? Another family heirloom?" I asked thinking back to how the twins knew of the entrance to the kitchens.

"No, when Filch took us to his office after getting caught on your birthday we noticed a filing cabinet that was labelled 'Confiscated Items' and nicked it when you and Filch left the office first," George explained as I gazed at him in amazement.

"Well, better put this away for safe keeping," Fred said returning the secret map to the pocket in his robes. "Happy Christmas Hare!" he continued.

I gave them both a hug in return just as the girls started filing down for breakfast. George went up to wake Lee so we could all head down to the Great Hall together.

XXX

The start of term ended up being pretty uneventful except for the use of the map which the three of us had used a few times to either head to the kitchens for a midnight snack or to explore the castle. We also noticed on the map that there were seemingly a few hidden passageways leading out of the castle. I thought it was a little irresponsible for whoever had created them when the castle was being built, but the twins thought it was brilliant. Accordingly we decided to check each of them out over the course of the next couple weeks to avoid suspicion.

One night in late January, we waited in the common room for everyone to vacate, including our friends. As much as we trusted them, we wanted to save this for just us. So once Charlie and his mates left the common room, we were the only ones remaining.

"Shall we?" Fred asked with a gleam in his eyes.

Nodding, we all stood up and headed for the portrait door.

"Heading out again young Weasleys?" the fat lady asked disapprovingly as we exited into the corridor. "I don't think I've seen a duo as mischievous as you two since Potter and Black," she added causing me to wheel around to look at her.

"You remember James and Sirius?" I asked in disbelief.

I knew most of my parents' friends had been in Gryffindor but that had been before the war, which seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Of course, and you also remind me of their friend who always tried to reel them in but never was any good at it. He always ended up joining them in most of their troublemaking," she added with disdain in her voice.

"Remus," I answered with a small smile.

"Yes that was his name; quiet, lanky child who never ate enough," she added as Fred nudged me in the arm.

"Sorry to break up the reminiscing but Filch is headed this way," Fred added irritably.

George pulled my arm in the opposite direction before I could ask the portrait lady anything else.

The three of us then headed towards the statue of the one-eyed witch. We came to the Defense Against the Dark Arts hallway, led by George, and went behind the statue.

"You never told us you were friends a mass murderer?!" Fred said incredulously.

"What?" I asked not having the slightest clue of what he was talking about.

"Sirius Black, don't tell me your family consorts with that lunatic!" he continued in an almost angry voice.

I stared at him for a moment feeling myself getting angry at the insinuation.

"My family does not consort with him!" I shouted at Fred. "Yes, my parents were friends with him before the war, but we have had absolutely nothing to do with him since. I'm happy he's rotting in Azkaban! My family lost too much at the likes of him!" I continued glaring at Fred in anger.

I couldn't believe that he had automatically jumped to this conclusion. It was because of Sirius that Remus was so depressed, that I didn't remember Lily and James and that my mother was the way she was. My mother had found Alice and Frank tortured and had gone to try and warn Lily and James. But she couldn't find them and it was only after she had been tortured that we found out Sirius had been responsible for their deaths.

George was looking thoughtfully between Fred and me, probably trying to figure out the best way to end the escalating conversation between his twin and his best friend. I could also see a tinge of regret in Fred's eyes which I knew meant that he was internally battling between maintaining his ego and admitting to making a mistake. But this had been a huge mistake. And although we had only known each other for less than a year and there was bound to be some lingering secrets, my mother for example, I couldn't believe that Fred would believe this of me and my family. He called me his best friend, so he must find me trustworthy. But this was too far, too painful.

All of a sudden my thoughts were plagued by the ongoing nightmares I frequently had about green lights, screams, and my mother's crumpled body. My father knew I had nightmares since I would wake up screaming throughout the night when I was younger. Ange had also woken me up a couple times for murmuring and whimpering in my sleep. But I hardly ever divulged the content of my nightmares. I had always known it would upset my father greatly and I still hadn't divulged any details about my mother to my friends. It felt too vulnerable.

And now my best friend was threatening me with associating with the murderous bastard ultimately responsible for not having a true mother.

Through all of the confusion and my slew of thoughts, I turned on my heel and ran out of the entrance. The tears I was trying so hard to keep back were flooding down my face. I quickly reached the fat lady's portrait and gave her the password before running through the opening. I was thankful that the girls had already fallen asleep which enabled me to fall onto my bed and pull back the curtains undisturbed. I fell asleep hours later after silently crying myself to sleep.

The nightmares that night were about an unfamiliar sounding man, screaming in what sounded like anguish and my mother's own cries. I woke up only a few hours later to see that the sun had not yet risen. The girls were still sleeping as I quickly got dressed and headed out of the dormitory. Today was thankfully Saturday so I could easily avoid everyone for the day without having to disclose what had happened or admit to any of my secrets or feelings.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs I noticed Fred and George asleep on the couches near the fire. I assumed they had planned to intercept me when I came down but were too deep in sleep to hear me quietly slip out the portrait hole. I headed down to the kitchens where Posy obligingly gave me a few muffins and crumpets to sustain me until dinner. I then headed out of the castle in time to see that the sun had started to rise. It reminded me of home which made me wish I could see my dad or even escape to the meadows around my house. I missed my dad terribly and had never been hurt like this by anyone before.

I didn't want to stay anywhere too obvious since I knew my friends would come looking for me when they realized I was gone. So I wandered down the hill, away from the lake, having no real destination in mind. At the bottom of the hill, close to the edge of the forest, I saw a make-shift pen holding funny looking animals that looked like a half breed between a frog and a monkey. I approached the pen slowly and looked at the creatures with webbed feet and hairless bodies before I heard a familiar booming voice from behind me.

" _Yer wan ter be careful there, clabberts hav razor teeth an' aren't afrai' ter use 'em_ ," the giant man whom I knew to be called Hagrid said as I turned around to look at him.

 _"Blimey, if 's not Marnie O'Hara!_ " Hagrid beamed with a smile.

I had only known Hagrid to be the gamekeeper at Hogwarts and obviously he had also been the one to rescue me at Hogsmeade Station.

" _I though' tha' was yeh in Hogsmeade in Septmeber! Yer were a wee feller las' time I seen yeh,_ " Hagrid continued while I looked at him in surprise.

I had never known of any connection that Hagrid had to my family.

' _I knew yer mum,_ " he continued a little more softly.

With the mention of my mum combined with my lack of sleep and argument with Fred, I broke down into tears. I was also slightly surprised that I still had the ability to cry after last night.

Having alarmed Hagrid by my outburst, he guided me to his nearby hut and started the kettle. He didn't ask me what was wrong or even spoke to me until he set down a cup of tea in front of me along with something that looked like it was supposed to be cake.

" _I see yeh've gotter necklace,_ " Hagrid said pointing to my red pendant while breaking the silence.

I smiled and took the pendant in my hand.

"You knew her during the war," I said, not really having to ask it as a question.

" _Yer mum wuz a 'ero Marnie, yeh never ferget tha',_ " he continued.

I spent the rest of the day with Hagrid and ended up confiding in him about what had happened with Fred. Hagrid in return told me how he had also been friends with not only my parents but with Remus, James, and Sirius as well. I then talked about Remus being like my uncle, which Hagrid didn't seem surprised by.

" _Marnie, I'll give yeh some advice 'ere_ ," Hagrid started once it was coming close to dinner. " _Yer jus' like yer mum, yeh 'ave a good 'eart and yeh've made some good friends._ _The war was a bad time, lef' people no' 'rusting. People are still afraid, of You Know Who an' 'is followers_ " Hagrid continued solemnly.

Although Fred had said horrible things and I was still mad at him, I knew there were better ways to handle our fight than to freeze him out.

Soon after, Hagrid offered to escort me up to the Great Hall for dinner. When we reached the castle I gave him a hug before looking over to the Gryffindor table where I spotted two redheads sitting beside each other.

"Thanks Hagrid," I said as the half giant turned to walk away. "Oh, erm Hagrid," I paused as he looked back at me, "Could I possibly stop by some time to hear more about my mother?" I asked in a quiet voice.

" _O' course! Yeh take care Marnie,"_ he beamed and started to retreat again.

I smiled before turning around to approach my friends.

"Marnie, where the bloody hell have you been?" George and Lee asked simultaneously while Ange stood up and gave me a crushing hug.

"We looked everywhere for you," Katie added while Alicia nodded fervently beside her.

"We were really worried Marnie," Angelina said, bending down closer to my ear, "and George filled us in on the basics of what happened. We are all pretty upset with Fred for assuming your dad was friends with a mass murderer," Angelina continued.

I smiled at how my friends obviously had my back.

"I was with Hagrid," I answered simply and took a seat between Ange and Alicia.

The boys were opposite of us, with Fred directly across from me. I tried to look him straight in the eye but he avoided my gaze by looking down at his plate.

"Fred, you are not the one to be sulking right now," I told him sternly.

George was elbowing him in the arm to get him to focus.

"I have taken the day to think and get some distance, you know?" I said still maintaining eye contact. "I talked it over with Hagrid, who also knew my parents and their friends, including Sirius Black," I added before pausing.

I waited to watch Fred's reaction to my comment but he remained silent while only raising his eyebrows in slight surprise as an indication of him listening to me.

I continued.

"You were a foul git for assuming anything that horrible about me or my family. And you have no idea how hurtful your words actually were. My family suffered terribly because of that man, and I should not have to sit here and justify my family's character or situation," I stopped to give a moment for my words to sink in.

Fred looked at me with remorse in his eyes. Hagrid was right, Fred deeply regretted his words, and I was willing to accept that remorse, but not without a few conditions.

"Fred, talking with Hagrid today allowed me to process everything and has led to the consideration of forgiving you," I said, seeing Fred's eyes perk up slightly. "However, I am never having a conversation like this again. I understand that each family has their own scars and vulnerabilities leftover from the war, mine is far from exempt, however that is not an excuse for taking it out on others or attacking your friends without providing them the opportunity to explain themselves. I am your best friend Fred, and that ought to mean something, even when there is doubt." I finished, waiting for him to respond.

Fred remained quiet for several moments while I noticed the rest of our friends awkwardly waiting with bated breath. They were all looking into their respective plates as if their dinner was extremely interesting.

"You actually forgive me?" Fred finally asked in surprise. "Marnie, I more than agree with everything you said, but how can you forgive me? I mean, I've always been defensive at the talk of Death Eaters. Like you said, every family has their baggage from the war, same as ours. But I hurt you Marnie, more than that stupid Flint, more than anything I swore to protect you from. I failed, and yet here you are forgiving me?" Fred asked incredulously.

"Yes, I am Fred Weasley. With the condition that we are never in this situation again and that you make up for our shortened adventure…" I paused thinking about any last minute add-ons. "Oh, and you have to pull off a prank on Marcus Flint that dyes his hair red and yellow before the end of term," I smirked.

"I solemnly swear," Fred answered with a large grin before extending his hand towards mine.

I accepted his hand and shook on the agreement. I saw the rest of our friends silently sigh in relief as we all fell into light conversation. I felt bad for how worried everyone had been about me, but this morning I had felt like I couldn't handle the world. The state of my mother had inevitably shrunk my own world to include just me and my father with few exceptions. Interacting with friends and solving issues was almost foreign to me, but I felt like space, and of course the help from Hagrid, had assisted me to solve the issue effectively. I looked over at Fred and smiled, causing him to grin back. The issue itself had been inexcusable, but the person whom it had come from was forgivable. He's my best friend, and in time I am sure we will learn each other's histories. But for now, we just have to trust that each other is worth the leap of faith.


	9. Stargazing Confessions

**I am still reeling from the mother's reveal and am stoked to see all the favourites and follows after my last update!**

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It wasn't until the following day that Fred and I reconciled. In recompense, the twins and I ventured to Honeydukes as an immediate effort to placate the situation on Fred's part. I was excited to finally have reached Hogsmeade, two years before I would actually be allowed to as per school policy, while we explored the closed sweet shop. Fred even bought me a licorice wand even though I assured him I could pay for my own. In the end we left money on the counter before heading back through the secret passageway in the cellar.

Over the next few weeks, the three of us also used the map more to sneak out at night; either going down to the kitchens or up to the Astronomy Tower. I refused to go to the forest, much to the twins' chagrin.

Tonight we decided to first go to Honeydukes and leave some cash on the counter for some pumpkin pasties and treacle fudge. We then headed up to the Astronomy Tower to eat undisturbed and away from questioning gazes on our contraband candy.

"Hey Hare," Fred interjected into our easy silence. "I had an idea about how to prevent myself from being a prat in the future," he continued.

"Ooo, I'm listening," I replied to his impending idea with a cheeky grin.

"Well, I know how much I messed up with the whole mass murderer thing, but I also know how quick my temper is to jump the gun," he explained as I nodded in agreeance.

"I concur," George added while narrowly avoiding a swat on the arm.

"So," Fred continued, "I was thinking that maybe we could each ask each other one big question. I know we talk to each other all the time, and we aren't in the habit of keeping secrets, but we also haven't been around just the three of us long enough to talk about everything. I'm not expecting to learn everything tonight or put you on the spot which is why I limited it to one question. And also, George wasn't privy to this idea so don't feel like we are ganging up on you or anything," Fred quickly added.

I paused for a moment.

"Alright, I think that sounds like an okay idea," I responded, feeling my hands start to sweat at the idea of how many things I hadn't yet disclosed to them.

"I'll go first," Fred said as if to ease the pressure. "How does your dad know our mother? I mean, I've never heard our parents talk about friends like your family, we've obviously never met, and your dad didn't ever go to Hogwarts."

"Oh, that's easy. I'm fairly sure they know each other from the war," I answered. "All of my parents' friends joined the Order of the Phoenix, including my mother. So I just assumed that your parents were part of it as well or were associated. I hadn't actually confirmed it with my dad yet but I'm pretty positive that's the case." I finished, getting nervous talking about my mother in relation to the Order.

"Oh, that makes sense. Our parents don't ever talk about the war or anything like that to us. And I think they were associated with the Order last time but they had six young children so it was difficult," Fred explained.

"Oh, well my dad has told me most things, although I don't really remember the name Weasley ever being mentioned, but my dad could have said Molly at some point and I wouldn't have ever known whom that was," I said.

"You're lucky your parents tell you things, ours never tell us anything. But the war was just so horrible, so dad never mentions it to avoid upsetting mum, and mum avoids it not wanting to get upset around us kids," Fred continued frowning.

"Yea, well my dad does tell me most things, but I can understand why your parents don't. I don't even push my dad for details or answers since it does obviously upset him," I continued.

"It must have been hard for your dad during the war," Fred went on looking at me with sad eyes. "I know our family was in trouble for being blood traitors, I couldn't imagine what it was like for your dad being a squib who defied the Death Eaters," he finished in a weary tone.

I looked up at him in slight surprise. Fred was offering more information without my asking. I figured this was more of an olive branch, plus an extension of friendship. I didn't think there were very many eleven-year-olds who were this empathetic to the implications of being a squib eight years ago, or divulge their family's status as blood traitors.

"I don't remember much, but I do get bits and pieces you know?" I said as I saw both of them nod, showing that they must have some inkling of remembrance for the war, despite how young we had all been.

"I know my dad was also really involved. He tells me that lots of our family and friends used to hide out at our place, since it's so secluded. Plus, he used to sit in on their strategy meetings and such. Despite not being able to do magic, he did everything he could to help," I finished before we all went silent.

"He loves you very much Marnie," Fred said quietly while I could feel my eyes slightly burn with the threat of tears. "To risk so much for you and everyone else when he couldn't defend himself properly. And to put his own safety to the wayside for the sake of everything else, not a lot of people did that. Plus, it seems like he still acts that way for you. From what I've gathered about your dad, he still protects you with everything he has," Fred continued as I fought even harder to fight away the tears.

I know how much my father loves me and has given to raise me the way he has. But for Fred to be reiterating it to me was very actualizing; especially for an outsider to notice our way of life after being so isolated for so long.

I nodded at Fred, not trusting my own voice.

"That's why I think it's so important to protect you Marnie, because your family so fiercely does so. I want to be able to do that too in order to even have a shot at being your best friend," he continued with a fiery look in his eyes.

It was almost incomprehensible to form a response to what Fred was telling me. We should be too young to be talking about such complexities and vulnerabilities. I hadn't even imagined people like this existing, wanting to know my past in such detail, swearing to protect me in the wake of my family's efforts. It was overwhelming. Fred was seemingly a force to be reckoned with.

"I don't know what to say," I said when I eventually looked at Fred.

"Why don't you ask the next question," Fred implored.

I finally looked over at George who seemed to have taken Fred's words more in stride than I had.

"What are you most afraid of?" I asked, wanting to be less vulnerable in the moment comparatively to the twins.

George's expression deadpanned.

"All my life my greatest fear has always been the same; losing Fred," he answered quite readily. "But I think at this moment I would have to add an appendix," he looked at me with a sad smile.

"You," he added quietly.

I was taken aback at how George could even add me to this scenario.

"George, I agree that you and Fred are my best friends, but he's your twin. How could you ever compare me to him?" I asked incredulously.

"Marnie, of course Fred being my twin makes our connection different, but as we've told you, you are our best friend. Even though I'm not your sworn crusader like Fred has deemed himself, we are all equals in this friendship. I always want to share everything with both you and Fred, not either or. Plus, friends are just as important as family. I think we have thoroughly established that blood has no bearing on what truly matters," he finished seriously.

I just smiled at George who returned my reaction. We both knew that there was nothing more to say, and that I obviously felt similarly for the both of them.

"Why don't you go next Georgie," Fred suggested.

"Alright then, I've been wondering this for a while Marnie, where do you live?" George asked. "We've told you all about The Burrow and everything we usually do at home. I know you have mentioned living in a small cottage in the middle of a meadow, but that could be anywhere in Great Britain," he finished.

He was right, I never talked much about my home. It seemed private, and opened opportunities for people to ask about my mum.

"Well I don't live in any town. The closest would be about ten miles away, that's called Ottery St. Catchpole..." before I could continue the twins interrupted.

"No way!" George exclaimed.

"That's where we live, just to the west of the village by about three miles," Fred added excitedly.

"How is that possible?" I asked, hardly believing the twins. "We live ten miles south of the village. I've only ever met one of our neighbours and they are further south than we are," I explained, referring to the Lovegoods.

"I can't believe our parents never mentioned you before, they must know we live near each other since both our families lived in their same houses during the war," George surmised.

"Well, my dad did mention knowing of some local children attending Hogwarts which I found surprising at the time, but I never questioned him further about it," I added, piecing together the vague clues from my father.

"Well, this is brilliant!" George exclaimed. "Now we can spend the summers together no problem!" he continued while Fred and I nodded excitedly.

"I know I haven't been all that forthcoming about my family beforehand, but I feel I should tell you, my dad and I are pretty reclusive. I feel pretty exposed just talking about it, especially when people like Marcus Flint exist to try and defame my family. Not that I expected anything like that from you, I just don't have much experience sharing my past," I explained while the twins looked at me solemnly.

I didn't really know how much they could sympathize or understand the dynamics of my home life, but at least they were making a good effort. I also didn't always know how to explain how things were in my life, but the twins were always giving me opportunities to try.

Finally, I looked at Fred since I had the remaining question left to ask.

"Are there any other Death Eaters that'll send you off the rails again? I mean if you hear their name?" I asked, wanting to pointedly avoid further mishaps with Fred.

"Antonin Dolohov, he killed our uncles," Fred said gravely. "And Bellatrix Lestrange since there is no magical household who doesn't fear her name next to You Know Who," he continued.

I flinched at the sound of Bellatrix's name. It had been Bellatrix who had actually tortured my mother along with Neville's parents. Plus, I knew the name Dolohov. I knew all their names, both suspected and confirmed. It was horrible hearing how the twins had also lost family during the war. Like me, they had not known their uncles properly and now would never have the chance. The Death Eaters had a volume of victims, regardless of blood status. Pure-bloods who were considered blood traitors, half-bloods who associated with muggles, those who married squibs…. And of course muggle-borns.

"I'm sorry Fred- and to you George- to not know your uncles properly, the war took too much," I looked at them with sincerity as I saw both sets of eyes fall. It was probably too much for us to comprehend, the loss and chaos of the war, but we were now giving each other the freedom to confide our thoughts and feelings amongst ourselves. I felt better now, having a little more understanding of my two best friends, and also letting them in on some of my own secrets. Not all, but there was always time. Plus, it seemed like the twins would find out about my mother soon anyways since they would most likely come and visit over the summer.

"Well I don't know about you two, but I am drained from all this sharing," George said in a more relaxed tone that made me smile.

"Yea, why don't we call it a night?" Fred asked and I nodded.

The three of us all left the Astronomy Tower and headed for the common room. Each twin put their arm over my shoulder as we walked side by side. It felt comforting to feel their warmth, like a reassurance of everything they had told me. They would always be there for me.

XXXX

Winter was giving way to spring which also meant that the year was winding to an end. For the teachers, this meant that exams were approaching so the amount of homework was becoming alarming. Angelina, Katie, Alicia and I were usually in the library each night much to the disappointment of the twins. Lee even joined us most nights since he wanted to improve his grades a bit.

At this point, the twins and I had investigated most of the secret passageways. Three of them were caved in, one led to Honeydukes, one led to the lake, while another led out near the greenhouses. The last one could only be accessed through the Whomping Willow which you would have to be mad to try and access, meaning we had only accessed most of them.

The times the twins did join our group in the library, it seemed they were mostly interested in discovering ways to pull off the prank I had requested against Flint. Fred had decided on putting something into his shampoo bottle but was still unclear on the required magic to fulfill the actual dyeing of the hair. Hence the need for the library.

It was the end of May, and I was starting to feel the heightened pressure of exams. We had been studying for months, but I was still unsure about the exam process and was convinced there was still so much I was forgetting. Ange was the only one who would try and join me every time I declared I was going to the library, but even she didn't accompany me all the time.

So, one day after Potions class, I was walking from the dungeons to the library to study for the half hour before lunch. My friends had all alternatively chosen to go to the common room to relax.

"All alone dirty squib?" I heard a malicious sounding voice call out from behind me.

My skin was crawling, willing me to walk away instead of turning around to face my aggressor. But I did turn to see Marcus Flint and two other Slytherins I had often seen him hanging around with.

"Almost worse than a Mudblood you are O'Hara," he remarked in a snide voice. "And no weasels around to protect you," he added, making the other two chuckle.

"What do you want Flint?" I asked with as much confidence as I could muster.

"For you to disappear," he answered nastily.

I noticed the three of them inching closer to me.

"You don't belong here dirty squib, I bet you can't even use that thing properly," he sneered as he looked at my wand which I had already grabbed out of my robes.

After a brief moment, the three of them rushed up and pushed me onto my back. I hadn't realized that they had been forcing me towards an opened broom cupboard that was obviously unused due to the clouded, dusty potion jars and assorted broken mops. Once I was inside, they closed the door and I was immediately immersed in darkness.

"Pathetic Gryffindors haven't even learned the unlocking spell yet," I heard one of the other boys say in a faint voice, as if he was walking away from the closet.

"Dirty squib, where she belongs with all the rubbish," Flint added, affirming that they were walking away, due to his lower volume.

I tried knocking on the door and yelling, but after what seemed like an hour, no one came. I listened carefully for any indication of movement outside the cupboard but no one hardly ever used this particular corridor and there were no more Potions classes for the day. I was angry at myself for allowing Flint to get the upper hand and gang up on me. I also couldn't wait to learn more spells and defenses against the escalating antics of those who wished me harm.

After what must have been hours, I heard the sounds of running feet heading down the hallway. I started pounding on the door only for it to be thrown open moments later. I squinted at the immediate light that filled the cupboard before two sets of hands grabbed onto my arms and lifted me up. I then came face-to-face with the twins and the rest of my friends who all looked extremely worried.

"Marnie, who did this to you?" Fred almost shouted as I finally gained the ability to see again.

He had a fiery look which told me had been worried and was now angry.

"We were so worried," Alicia interrupted. "We even went down to Hagrid's to check if you were there."

"It was Fred and George who somehow figured out where you were," Katie said as I knowingly understood that to mean they had used the map.

"How long was I in there?" I added, still dazed from the cupboard.

"Well dinner just ended, and we've been looking for you since you were absent at lunch," George said causing my stomach growled on cue.

"Why don't we get you some food?" Lee asked kindly and I nodded in approval.

My friends then obligingly all turned to head towards the kitchens.

"Marnie, was it Flint, did that slimy git put you in here?" Fred asked angrily.

"Yea, him and his Slytherin cronies," I answered, not wanting to divulge what they had said to me yet. I was still too upset at what had happened and what they had said.

Fred nodded once and grabbed George's arm as if to lead him towards the Slytherin common room.

"Fred, I need you to stay," I said, hoping it would convince him enough instead of blindly going after Flint.

He paused, and I saw the conflicted look in his eyes.

"Of course Hare," he answered after a moment and they both joined the group to head to the kitchens. George ended up taking my arm as Fred stayed at the back of the group, probably scouting for any sign of Slytherins.

I knew we would get back at Flint, but right now I was starving, angry, and a little humiliated. I just wanted my friends to reassure to me that I was fine and that I did indeed deserve to be at this school. Because as much as I disliked Flint and knew he had been wrong, his words still bothered me as I struggled to forget them.


	10. The Burrow and The Cottage

**I just wanted to say I appreciate the constructive criticism! I have noticed that I use third person sometimes when I edit my chapters and have tried to change it. But I will do my best to be more diligent.**

It was the middle of June and exams had started. We had already completed our Herbology finals, both practical and written. For the practical exam we had needed to extract enough milk from a coughing cactus to sufficiently suppress the common cold. Fred, Lee and Alicia's hands were still riddled with red dots after being amply pricked by their cacti. We also finished our exams for Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic and Charms. This left Potions for this afternoon and Astronomy which was the final exam to take place this evening. I was extremely nervous for Potions since we had all been struggling in that class. Part of me suspected that it didn't really have to do with our skill, but more to do with our sorted house.

But, after spending three hours brewing a Forgetfulness Potion, I submitted my vial to Professor Snape and almost ran out of the classroom. I was so relieved to have completed the task, at least somewhat adequately, and wouldn't have to enter the dungeons for another two months.

The last few weeks had been busy in preparation for the daunting reality of our first round of exams. The twins had also pranked Flint soon after he had locked me in the cupboard, following my previous instructions. But his hair had turned pink and orange instead of yellow and red like I had requested. The effect however had been just as humiliating and the dye the twins' had used had fortunately been irreversible for three full days.

I also talked Fred out of a few, more confrontation pranks against Flint, since I was too worried Fred would have been in deeper trouble than just detention.

The next day the seven of us headed down to the lake, relaxing in the glory of being done our exams. I wasn't actually too worried since I felt that I had known a lot of the answers and had proven myself in the practical exams. The only one that was up in the air was Potions, but it wasn't worth worrying about for another week, when we were due to receive our grades.

As we sat basking in the sun I started to feel conflicted, not wanting to really leave Hogwarts and my friends for two months, but also really missing my dad. It was comforting to know that the twins lived close by and we could visit each other more easily. But Katie's family was going to Belgium for most of the summer while Lee's was going to Ireland. Angelina and Alicia would be around, but they both lived in the city which I knew would make it harder for me to go and visit. This was uncharted territory with my dad.

When the sun started to set that night over the Black Lake, we decided to head back up to the castle for the End of the Year feast. I was admittedly starving and excited to see who had won the house cup. Gryffindor had already secured the Quidditch Cup which was very exciting, with Charlie obviously being extremely happy.

We were some of the last ones to take a seat in the Great Hall. Once we sat down the headmaster soon stood up front and addressed the school.

"Another year has passed here at Hogwarts, and I am happy to say that it has been quite a successful one. Our first years have started upon their path to wisdom, whereas our older students have followed their own with a little less trepidation than before," Professor Dumbledore said sincerely.

His words seemed almost whimsical, which somehow complimented his respective stature.

"Now, to declare the House Cup for this year. With 282 points, Ravenclaw. With 304 points, Gryffindor. Hufflepuff has an esteemed 325 points, leaving the winning house to be Slytherin, with 387 points," he finished as all the students wearing green robes erupted into applause.

It took several moments before the headmaster could continue since the Slytherins' were quite boisterous about their win. However, when they did eventually quiet down, the headmaster just smiled and finished his speech.

"Tuck in."

As the headmaster returned to his seat a massive feast magically appeared before us. We enjoyed our last meal, talking and laughing amongst ourselves until the last remnants of food vanished. Afterwards, all of us trudged up the several amounts of stairs to the common room where we sat down in some unoccupied chairs. We were all pretty tired after finally having completed our exams and for stuffing our faces with vast amounts of dinner and dessert. But we wanted to spend as much time together as possible. Lee and Alicia were playing Exploding Snap while the rest of us mostly just watched and talked amongst ourselves. There was little else to do since we were all pretty exhausted.

"Well mates, I fear we must bid you farewell until tomorrow," George said exaggeratedly.

"Yea, I fear me and my dear brother have yet to pack and time is now of the essence," Fred added with similar reverence.

"You haven't packed?" Angelina asked incredulously.

"Actually, neither have I," I added as I stood up to go to my own dormitory.

"You three are quite the set," Angelina said, shaking her head despite the smile on her face.

I headed upstairs and was soon joined by the rest of the girls who were getting their last few possessions packed away. The other three sat on their beds while I scoured the dorm locating all of my things.

"Can't believe ruddy Slytherin won the House Cup," Katie said with disdain.

"We didn't even come close," Alicia added with a frown.

"At least we claimed the Quidditch Cup!" Angelina said encouragingly.

"It's been ages since Gryffindor has won either cup," Katie added half-heartedly.

"Yea, I heard McGonagall saying that it's been about a decade since Gryffindor has won the House Cup and this was the first time in about twelve years that Gryffindor has won the Quidditch Inter-House Cup," I claimed as the girls' faces fell.

"We will just have to reclaim that Gryffindor glory," Angelina said with a determined look.

"Yea, next year we'll make the quidditch team and wipe those smirks right off their faces," Katie added fiercely.

"Alright Gryffindor's, but in the meantime I'm going to call it a night," Alicia announced as she pulled the curtains on her bed closed.

"Night Leesh," we all said as we each followed suit.

I had finally located all of my things and closed my trunk. Tomorrow morning we would be heading back to London.

XXX

The train ride was pretty laid back as we all enjoyed each other's company. But the closer we got to London, the more I felt that I was really going to miss my friends. Obviously, we had all grown to be very close, so I thought it was going to be strange returning to the quiet of my cottage with just my dad. At Hogwarts I rarely ever ventured anywhere without at least the twins or Ange by my side. Most times, we all hung out and traveled between classes together as well as spent our evenings in the common room. There was always someone to talk to, or somewhere to go. Things on the other hand were pretty confined at home. It had never bothered me before, but I had never known any different. Even visiting my mother, I never got to see the city since we only ever travelled directly to the hospital, typically via side apparation with Remus. I also knew my dad really no longer trusted the world and made it his primary duty to protect me, but I was hoping that things could change, if only just a little.

"After you milady," Fred offered his hand as I stepped off the train.

We had all said our good-byes in the compartment, and now the twins and I were standing together on the platform, searching the crowd for our parents. As if on cue, I saw Mrs. Weasley and my father approaching us together with Ron and Ginny in tow. After seeing them we ran over and stood together while we waited for Percy and Charlie to find us.

"Marnie dear, I was just talking to your father about the two of you coming over for dinner this weekend," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile.

I looked up at my dad who laughed and nodded, telling me he had already agreed.

"That sounds wonderful Mrs. Weasley!" I exclaimed, looking over to the twins who were whooping in excitement.

Charlie and Percy soon arrived at our group, and my father decided it was time for us to leave. After exiting the train station we walked out to the parking lot to Remus' car and got in. I wasn't surprised by Remus' absence since I knew from my recent Astronomy exam that tonight was a full moon. This probably meant that I wouldn't see Remus for another couple of days.

I looked out the window as my dad started to drive out of London.

"Dad, did you know the Weasleys lived close to us?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Er- yes, I knew Molly and Arthur lived nearby," my dad confirmed a little awkwardly.

"Why haven't I ever met them? I mean, you and Mrs. Weasley were obviously friends at some point," I pushed a little to try and get more information from my dad. Usually I would have let it drop, but ever since that one night with the twins on the Astronomy Tower, when I learned that the twins lived relatively close to us, it had irked me slightly that I couldn't have known them sooner.

"Marnie, that was a long time ago," my dad started. "Plus, it was different back then. I had you to take care of and they had six or seven children by that point. It was difficult to keep in touch, and by the time you were older, I hadn't heard from them in a while," he continued.

I remained quiet as I processed my dad's response. It made sense, and I didn't fault him for not introducing me to the Weasleys sooner, but I started to consider how much different our lives could have been if not for the war. It was a rabbit hole of 'what if's' which left an unpleasant feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Look, Marnie, I've already talked with Molly while you were at school and both of us are more than happy for you and the twins to see each other throughout the summer," dad interrupted my whirling thoughts.

"Thanks dad," I smiled back at him before turning around to stare out the window.

XXX

The following weekend, my father and I were walking through the meadows, down a semi-beaten path towards The Burrow. It had taken us a fair bit to get there, but we left mid-afternoon and made good time. When we had crossed over the last hill I could see a tall wooden structure sitting up on a ridge; if only a little haphazardly. As we got closer I could see that the base structure was made of stone while the stories above it were constructed out of rickety dark wood with various windows placed throughout. It reminded me of the quaintness of my own home, especially since it was also surrounded by the same meadows and rolling hills.

We approached the house and my father knocked twice on the wooden door. I could hear some bustling footsteps approach before it opened and Mrs. Weasley greeted us. She quickly took the potato salad which I had in my hands and we followed her into the kitchen before she gave me her usual hug.

"The boys are out back near the pond if you would like to join them Marnie," Mrs. Weasley told me with the back door already open to usher me out.

With a wave back to her and my father I headed out and soon saw a group of red heads across the yard, sitting on a rickety dock.

"Marnie, you're here!" Ginny exclaimed as she ran over to me.

I hadn't really ever talked to the young girl so I was taken aback by her excitement towards me.

"Hey Hare," Fred said as he and George also made their way over.

They each hugged me before we all went over to the dock where I could see Charlie and Ron sitting.

"Hey Marnie, nice to see you again," Charlie said as I greeted him back. I got a small hello from Ron.

Percy was apparently too refined to join us at the dock, so he was reportedly waiting for dinner up in his room.

The rest of us spent the next hour by the dock, sticking our feet in the cool water while we waited for dinner. Charlie talked about dragons and how he was working towards getting a job taking care of them. I thought it sounded pretty incredible despite the obvious hazards. The Weasleys also told me about their eldest brother Bill who had recently taken a job in Egypt as a curse breaker. I couldn't believe all the interesting and seemingly dangerous jobs you could get in the magical world. Dad had only ever told me about muggle jobs like being a veterinarian, a mailman, or a bank teller, despite growing up in a magical family.

Before long we heard Mrs. Weasley calling us for dinner. We all trekked up the yard to the backdoor where we washed up for supper. Then we all filed into the dining room and sat around the large table which seemed to take up the entire room.

"Marnie, it's so good to finally meet you!" the man at the end of the table called out to me. He looked slightly older than my dad and had matching red hair like the rest of the Weasleys. I easily figured he was the twins' father.

"It's nice to meet you as well Mr. Weasley," I responded before turning back to serve myself some dinner. Mrs. Weasley had made lasagna which smelled wonderful.

"Marnie, where's you mum?" George asked innocently as my face fell.

I had forgotten to tell them.

My dad looked down at me with a sad expression mixed with surprise and confusion. But before any of us could answer, Ron piped up.

"She's mad isn't she?" he said pretty non-chalantly.

"RONALD WEASLEY!" his mother fumed at him.

"Well it's true isn't it? Her mum's not right in the head. I heard you and dad talking about it," he added as Mrs. Weasley glared at him.

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY, YOU HEAD STRAIGHT TO YOUR ROOM AND STAY THERE TIL TOMORROW!" she shouted, causing Ron's face to fall.

"But mum, I haven't even had dessert," he moaned, obviously not understanding the brevity of his words.

"NOT ANOTHER WORD, GET UPSTAIRS NOW!" Mrs. Weasley finished with her entire face now scarlet.

I just looked down at my plate, not having the courage to look at either my dad or the twins.

"May I be excused?" I whispered while already standing up and heading outside. I hadn't even waited for an answer.

I returned to the dock where we had all been sitting earlier. I felt so ashamed that I had been the cause of my father's humiliation and the twins' probable anger. I hadn't told them this major thing in my life, and my father probably thought I was too ashamed. But I'm not ashamed of my mother, she's my hero. She sacrificed herself for me. Plus, Neville's gran is always telling us we ought to be proud of our parents for their courageous sacrifice. I agree with her, I just know the world won't always comply. People like Ron saying it as if it doesn't matter. Or worse, people like Marcus Flint who would just ridicule her. So, to protect my mother's name, I decidedly never talked about it. I had meant to tell the twins before they came over to my house this summer, but I hadn't found the right moment. No moment ever feels right to tell your best mates your mother has been in a hospital your entire life for losing her mind after being viciously tortured.

Soon after I heard feet approaching me from behind, but I remained sitting where I was looking out over the water.

"Hey Hare," I heard Fred say quietly.

"Is this seat taken?" George asked from my other side.

I just shook my head in response. They both sat down and we sat in silence for a few moments.

"We understand why you didn't tell us," George was the first to speak.

I looked up at him in disbelief before turning back to look at Fred who nodded his head in agreeance.

"I was going to tell you," I whispered, still feeling guilty over various aspects of the situation.

"We know," Fred responded, clasping his hand over mine as a sign of assurance.

We sat in silence once more as I worked up the courage to explain myself to them.

"It was Bellatrix Lestrange," I finally whispered, feeling Fred shudder at the mention of the Death Eater's name.

The twins remained quiet, allowing me to continue telling the story.

"Like I've said, my mother was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. At the time, she was on a special mission that went horribly wrong. She found her best friends in the same state that she is in now and went to warn other friends of my family since she somehow knew they were in the same danger. But Sirius Black betrayed them all by giving the Death Eaters important information about my parent's friends which led to them being murdered. My mother as good as lost four of her friends because of those two Death Eaters and was caught before she could report back to the Order. She was heartbroken and lost focus, so they found her and tortured her, just out of spite," I stopped as I felt tears steam down my face. George put his arm around me as Fred kept a firm grip on my hand.

"I'm so sorry Marnie," George whispered in my ear while I felt Fred start to trace the top of my hand in a soothing gesture.

"I remember that day. It's vague, but I remember the sky turning dark and I could hear screaming, which doesn't really make sense since I was at home whereas my mum was somewhere else. It's the only thing my dad will never talk about, what happened that day. And that's all I remember. Purple skies, a green flash, and the sound of my mother's shrill screaming paired with my own. I think somehow my dad went to her when the Order found out, but she had already been alone for hours. After that, I know she was taken to St. Mungo's where she's been ever since," I finished, feeling a hollow ache in my chest.

We sat in silence for a while before I finally felt my tears finish falling.

"I've never told anyone about that day," I said as I felt the twins look at each other over my head.

"You mean, what you remember, you've never told anyone?" George asked.

"You two are the first, I never wanted to tell my dad. I always figured it would make him too sad," I explained.

"Your secret's safe with us," Fred assured as I felt myself relax a little.

I hadn't expected the two of them to respond like this. Especially since Fred seemed to get set off at the mention of Death Eaters. But I also knew they empathized with me and maybe now understood some of my other tendencies.

"Why don't we go get some dessert?" George suggested while I felt dread once again fill up my chest.

"I think I disappointed my dad," I said to the twins.

"No, Marnie, of course you didn't disappoint your dad. You should have heard him. He really wanted to come down and talk to you, saying he was sorry about you not having enough time to be comfortable enough telling your new friends about your mum," Fred said seriously as I looked at him with surprise.

"Yea, we convinced him that it might be easier if we told you ourselves that it didn't matter that you hadn't told us yet," George explained.

"Plus, we wanted to tell you that we are seriously considering dropping Ron as a brother," Fred added which caused me to laugh.

"He's your family Fred. Plus, I'm not really mad at him. I was madder at myself for not telling you sooner," I explained as we all stood up to head back to The Burrow.

"Well, he's still a prat," George said.

"And he's going to regret his words," Fred added as I knew the both of them were already scheming.

We entered back through the kitchen door and joined our families for dessert. Mrs. Weasley gave me a big hug and apologized for how tonight had unfolded. I assured her that there was nothing to forgive, and my father looked at me with a sad smile. I could tell through his expression that he was just worried for me and wasn't actually mad about the situation which made me feel relieved. The rest of the evening went by pleasantly enough and we left once we had cleared and cleaned all of the dishes.

"We will have to have you over again Joss," Mrs. Weasley said as we headed out the front door.

I could tell she was worried my father had been too offended to want to come back.

"Molly, tonight was wonderful," my dad reassured her. "And I think next time we will have to host your family," he added as I saw Mrs. Weasley's face light up.

"That would be wonderful Joss," Mr. Weasley responded as we started heading down the walkway.

"I'll owl you with a date," my father added before waving good-bye.

I was surprised by the extended invitation my dad had just suggested. I was also very excited at the prospect of the twins seeing where I had grown up and sharing another part of my life with them.

My dad then put his arm around my shoulders reassuringly as we walked home. I actually felt relieved with the turn of events that had taken place even if it had come up rather abruptly. I realized I had chosen my friends pretty well for them to react the way they had in lieu of what had happened. And now they knew the truth about my mum.

XXX

It was the end of July and the Weasleys were due to arrive within the hour. My dad had finally been able to arrange a suitable date for their entire family to come over since Mr. Weasley had been very busy at the Ministry, working late and on weekends.

I was helping my dad set up a table in the garden since it was impossible for ten people to eat around our tiny table in the dining room. I don't think we actually had a dining room, just a nook between the kitchen and sitting room. But dad had built a pergola out in the garden about ten years ago which was meant to accommodate a larger number of people.

I was setting out our folding tables when I heard voices trailing from around the house. I looked up to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley turning the corner from our front yard followed closely by the twins who were looking around curiously.

"We figured you might be back here, we tried the front door but didn't get an answer," Mrs. Weasley explained as she came over and pulled me into a hug.

"Sorry about that Molly, we must have lost track of time," my father answered, going over to shake Mr. Weasley's hand.

"Can you show us around Marnie?" the twins asked rather excitedly.

I looked at my dad for permission since we hadn't finished setting up yet.

"Go, I can help your father with everything," Mrs. Weasley interjected as I saw my dad smile and nod.

I heard Mrs. Weasley order Ron to stay and help her, much to his chagrin while the twins and I were joined by Ginny. Charlie gave me a friendly wave but stayed with his father and Percy who were discussing the electricity that turned on our outdoor fairy lights.

I walked the three Weasleys around my yard, showing them the different gardens my father kept. We then walked down to our own pond and put our feet in.

"Your house looks like it's something out of a bard tale," Ginny exclaimed while I smiled back at the younger girl.

"Thanks Ginny, I do love living here," I exclaimed, admiring the setting sun with the others.

"Can we see your room?" Fred asked after having grown bored of sitting.

I looked over at my dad who was now sitting with the rest of the Weasleys under the pergola. I knew dinner wouldn't be ready for at least another 30 minutes.

"Alright," I answered as the three Weasley siblings smiled and I led them inside.

Joss saw the four children head for the front of the house. He assumed Marnie was now touring them of the inside. He knew his daughter was still too young to consider anyone as more than a friend, but he still didn't like the idea of his only daughter spending time alone in her room with kids the same age as her. At least the younger child was with them. Plus, he had to admit, he trusted Molly and Arthur's children. He was just characteristically protective of Marnie.

"Here we are," Marnie announced as they ended the tour with her room. She had quickly shown them the ground floor which was completely visible from the front door. Ginny had marveled at the ceiling high window at the back of the house that overlooked the rolling hills into the distance. We were now all sitting in my room as Ginny was admiring my Hollyhead Harpies poster, telling me she had one of her own. Fred cringed slightly at the sight of my Hufflepuff banner but hadn't said anything.

"I thought you were in Gryffindor," Ginny said as she too noticed the yellow banner.

"I am, they were my mother's," I explained matter of factly.

"Oh, that makes sense," Ginny smiled. "I'm sorry by the way for my git of a brother," the younger girl continued which made me smile with her reference to Ron.

We all sat around while the twins investigated the contents of my room. They were displeased by the number of books I owned but were impressed that I had my own dung bomb stash ready for next year.

My father soon came up to my room to announce that dinner was ready. He surveyed the room before smiling and gesturing for us to go clean up. We all filed downstairs and outside to the back yard. Dad and Mrs. Weasley carried out supper as we all socialized under the stars. I had also made some blueberry pies which were served once the dinner plates had been put away.

At the end of the night, the Weasleys eventually came into our living room to use the floo since they didn't want to walk back in the dark. Mr. Weasley had connected our fireplace to the system for the evening to which dad had consented.

"Thank-you again Joss, this has been wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley said as she gathered her children in front of the fireplace.

"Good-bye Marnie," the twins said as they each hugged me.

"Thanks for showing us around," George said as he entered the fireplace and disappeared in a flurry of ash.

"We had a lot of fun," Fred added before he followed after his twin.

"Your house is really cool Marnie," Ginny said, joining her father to leave.

"Sorry Marnie, you know, for last time," Ron said rather timidly.

His mother was expectantly waiting for him in the fireplace.

I smiled at him which he sheepishly returned. The twins had divulged that they had been nefariously pranking him since my last visit and I told them to lighten up. I wasn't upset anymore and he was too young to know any better.

With one last smile Mrs. Weasley then grabbed hold of Ron and followed the rest of her family back to The Burrow.


	11. The Second First Day

I woke up to the sun pooling into my room. Sitting up I could see it blazing across the fields and reflecting off the hills which made the grass fields look like a golden sea. As I rubbed my eyes to adjust I started to feel anticipation rise in my chest much like it had a year before. But instead of feeling trepidation and nervousness, I was ready for the familiarity of Hogwarts.

After throwing on some clothes I headed downstairs to find my father sitting out on the back porch with a tea cup in his hands. I sat down beside him and joined him in staring out into the distance.

"I never get tired of this," my father said quietly as he continued to gaze out.

"I always miss it when I'm away," I replied softly.

My father turned to look at me with a sad smile. But after a moment he deepened it in an attempt to hide what I had already seen. Plus, the new smile still didn't reach his eyes.

"I wasn't expecting you up this early. Want to help me with breakfast?" my father asked in a lightened tone.

I still felt guilty for leaving my dad for so long. I knew he loved this house and the life we had here. But, with me attending Hogwarts life wasn't the same here for him. It wasn't the way it was supposed to be, the way he had planned when my parents first bought this place. I almost wondered if dad should sell the cottage and distance himself from all the 'what ifs' that filled its walls.

"Of course dad," I answered as I followed him into the kitchen.

This year we met up with the Weasleys to go to King's Cross. Remus couldn't drive us since he was recovering from the recent full moon, so it made the most sense to tag along with them.

Over the rest of the summer I had spent as much time as I could with the twins, sometimes with Ginny tagging along with us. She was a clever little girl for being two years away from even starting at Hogwarts, plus she enjoyed scheming along in the pranks that we planned with the twins. And when we weren't scheming we had spent the hot summer days swimming in their pond. On the rare rainy days we had played exploding snap and swapped stories up in the twins' room. One night I had even been able to sleep over, with the assurance to my dad that I would be sleeping in Ginny's room. The four of us had stayed up telling scary stories until Mrs. Weasley ushered the twins to bed. But while they were brushing their teeth Ginny and I snuck up to the twins' room and jumped out from under their beds once they had turned off the lights. As a result they screamed bloody murder while Ginny and I ran back out in the nick of time without being caught. So instead, Mrs. Weasley had scolded the boys for causing a ruckus while we listened from the staircase landing. Fred and George glared daggers at us the next morning.

Once we all had gotten through the brick wall Mrs. Weasley and my father ushered all of us to the train where we said our good-byes.

"I'm going to miss you Marnie, I don't like being the only girl," Ginny said as she gave me a fierce hug.

I returned the embrace and kissed the slightly shorter girl on the forehead.

"I'll see you at Christmas Gin, and I'll write to you loads of times," I added as we both smiled at each other.

"Good-bye, Marnie dear," Molly said after giving four of her children their good-bye embraces.

"Good-bye, Mrs. Weasley, thank-you again for having me over this summer," I said as she brushed the hair off my face.

"It's no trouble at all Marnie, don't you mention it. And we'll have you and your father over for Christmas," she added.

I then turned to my father who I could see had tears welling up in his eyes.

"You think this would have gotten easier," he said as he pulled me into his chest. "But seeing you go is never going to get any easier," he whispered which made my own tears start to fall.

"I love you dad. I do hate leaving you," I said as he pulled me back to look at me.

"I know you do Marnie. I love you too. But you also love going, and that's okay to want without having to feel guilty," he added as he gestured to where the twins were boarding the train.

I smiled and nodded before heading over to join them. I looked back as George took my trunk and Fred helped me onto the train. My dad smiled and waved up at me before I turned away. As we walked down the corridor in search of our friends, I felt Fred tighten his grip on my shoulder reassuringly.

XXX

The train ride and sorting were more relaxed this year since I wasn't nervously awaiting my own fate. My friends and I greeted the newest Gryffindor additions with as much excitement as others had done for us the year before. It was strange though to see the new first year students and realize that we were no longer in their position. We also spent the rest of the night catching up during the feast and in the common room later on even though we had spent the entire train ride together. I had missed my friends terribly and hadn't had the chance to see anyone else besides the twins all summer.

"Angelina, I think you definitely got taller," Lee speculated as Ange straightened her posture at the comment.

"Yea, I have actually, three whole inches. And I'll need it too, for playing quidditch and all," Ange answered as the rest of us smiled.

"Hold on there Johnson, you haven't even tried out for the team yet," Fred speculated before Angelina stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yea, well we all know she's going to make the team, she's the strongest one here," Alicia offered as us girls all nodded in agreeance.

"Wait, hold on a second, don't go puffing that Gryffindor ego she's got there," George said as I could see Ange start fuming.

"Hey, if anyone's got an enlarged ego, it's you two prats," I interjected before Ange got too riled up.

"Well we all know who hasn't grown any and has a little wee ego to match," Fred retorted with a smirk.

"Yea well the greatest things come in the smallest packages," I replied smugly.

"Yea, they do," Fred answered quietly with a smile all while still looking at me.

I was surprised he had forfeited the argument so easily, and so calmly. But before I could think about it too much Katie interjected and suggested we all head to bed, probably taking advantage of the lull in our heated discussions. Ange was still reeling beside me.

The following week was quidditch trials, and it was all any of the six of them could talk about. Lee had already asked McGonagall if he could announce at the games since the previous announcer, Victoria West, had graduated last year. McGonagall had taken it into consideration, bearing no one from the other houses asked for the position as well.

"Who do you think we'll be competing against?" Alicia asked as she moved the food around on her plate without touching it.

"I think that third year Alexis Chandler and that fifth year Douglas Logan are both trying out for chasers besides the three of us," Katie answered, also not touching her food.

"I know that Miles Flaggerty and Roland Montgomery are trying out for beaters as well," Fred said as he shoveled food into his mouth.

"You don't look at all nervous," I said, looking at him surprisingly.

"Why would we be nervous?" Fred answered as he indicated to George who was also piling food onto this plate.

"What if you don't make it, or worse, only one of you gets it?" I asked goadingly.

"That's not going to happen," George answered confidently.

"You don't know that," Katie retorted back.

"Oh but we do," Fred continued, causing me to shake my head at their unwavering self-assurance.

"Didn't know we had a couple of Seers in our midst," I said sarcastically.

"There is so much you do not know little Hare," Fred replied which prompted a scowl.

Before I could retort, Charlie approached our group.

"Better get a move on, tryouts start in fifteen," the older boy said as he then made his way towards the exit.

The rest of my friends followed Charlie's lead and headed towards the pitch. Lee followed them out to watch in the stands while I told them I would be there shortly, after using the loo.

Five minutes later I was walking towards the pitch when my path was blocked by Marcus Flint and his pathetic cronies.

"What do I owe this pleasure?" I asked them sarcastically as I already held out my wand.

I was not letting them get the upper hand this time.

"I thought I explained to you last year that you're not magical enough to be at Hogwarts. There's no way a squib like you passed all those exams. You have to be able to use a wand to do that," Flint answered maliciously. "Your blood is too dirty to be able to produce any proper magic," he added as the others snickered.

"Last I heard it was you Flint who wasn't doing too well in school. Guess your blood isn't helping you with your studies," I retorted confidently. "Plus I highly doubt these two imbeciles can help you," I indicated to the other two boys who stopped laughing and glared at my response.

"You filthy squib, you'll pay for your traitorous words," Flint responded with malice.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" I shouted as he went to use his own wand.

As he floated in the air he collected himself enough to send a jinx at me.

"Flippendo!" he shouted.

I felt a mild tickle instead of the typical jolt usually caused by the knock back jinx. Instead I only got pushed a couple of inches while still remaining standing.

Unfortunately, I was standing at the top of a staircase and the couple of inches I moved back sent me falling down the stairs. As I lost my footing I saw Flint fall to the floor as my own spell was interrupted. After falling backwards down the stairs I landed on my back in an unnatural position and looked up through my clouding vision to see the three boys retreating out of sight. I could hear their muffled laughter before everything started to go black. I could also feel the radiating pain from my leg shooting up my back, but the blackness was making it all fade. The last thing I heard were gasps and feet running towards me before the darkness finally took over.

"Alright, I've made my decisions for who is going to be on the Gryffindor team this year. First off, Oliver Wood will return as keeper. Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, and Angelina Johnson will be our chasers while Fred and George Weasley will be our beaters. Thank-you everyone for coming out!" Charlie announced after the quidditch trials had ended.

He had been quite impressed with the skills shown by his brothers who he knew had practiced all summer in their backyard.

"Wicked!" Fred and George said at the same time while giving each other a high five.

"I can't believe we all got on the team!" Alicia squealed as they all congratulated each other.

"Congratulations you guys, you all flew brilliantly," Lee said as they all turned around to see their friend headed towards them.

Fred frowned, "Lee, where's Marnie?"

"Oh, yea she never made it to the tryout," Lee said in a bewildered tone.

"But she said she was going to come right out, where could she possibly have gone?" Ange asked with mounting anxiety in her voice.

Fred and George also shared a worried look. Marnie always seemingly got into the worst situations when she was alone. Plus, she was their best friend and they weren't currently in a row, which meant she wouldn't be avoiding them. And she had said she was excited to cheer them on, so something had to be wrong.

Before any of them could move or decide their next step they saw their brother Percy jogging over.

"Fred, George, it's Marnie," he panted as he tried to catch his breath. "She's in the hospital wing," he finished, trying to regain composure.

But the twins were already bolting for the castle.

The rest of their friends were also closely behind as they all carried their brooms up towards the hospital wing. They ran the entire way there and stopped only when they had reached the doorway. As they entered they surveyed the room to see Marnie sleeping on one of the farther beds. Fred could see multiple bruises on her legs and arms, plus a rather large one on her cheek. He then ran over to the bed while wanting to take her in his arms but stopped when he saw how fragile she looked.

"What do you think you are all doing?" they heard a shrill voice from behind them as they turned to see the hospital matron rushing over towards them.

"Tracking in all that mud and racing over recklessly towards my patient," she went on as she started tending to Marnie who was still unconscious.

"What happened?" Fred asked, ignoring everything Madam Pomfrey had just told them.

"She fell down a staircase, backwards from the sounds of it," Fred flinched at the matron's explanation as he inwardly reprimanded himself for not being there.

"Must be a clumsy little thing," Madam Pomfrey continued as Fred turned to look at her.

"Marnie is not clumsy," he said evenly.

But the matron only nodded and returned to what she was doing.

Fred then shared a look with George who returned a grim nod. They knew Marnie hadn't fallen, which meant she had been pushed.

"Can I stay with her?" Fred asked Madam Pomfrey while already taking a seat by Marnie's bedside.

"Oh, alright, but only for a little while. I need to tend to her constantly since she still hasn't woken up," the matron answered sternly.

Fred nodded and looked up at the rest of his friends who adamantly requested that they be updated as soon as she wakes up.

George however took the opposite seat from Fred as the others vacated the hospital wing.

"You didn't fail her mate," George whispered as he read Fred's face.

"This always happens," Fred replied angrily. "That Flint bastard waits until we are otherwise occupied and attacks her. He should be expelled!"

"I know mate, and we'll get justice. But Marnie is strong. I'm sure she defended herself," George said easily.

"But she shouldn't have to do it alone," Fred added as George gave him a sad smile.

It hurt George just as much to see Marnie like this. He felt his gut being filled with the need to bring down fiery vengeance upon Flint. But he also knew Fred took it on a personal level, one he could never quite understand. Losing Marnie was George's biggest fear, and yet it still effected Fred differently.

XXX

I could hear someone bustling around me as I tried to open my eyes. My entire body felt stiff and ached all over.

"Don't move child, your bones are still mending," I heard a woman tell me as I tried to lift my head to survey my surroundings.

"Where am I?" I asked, not having met this particular woman before.

"You're in the hospital wing child. I'm the matron, Madam Pomfrey. You had a tumble down some stairs earlier today," she explained as I started to remember my confrontation with Flint.

I was suddenly angry with myself for having lost focus and letting Flint get away again. His jinx had been too weak to do anything, I had just been standing in the wrong spot.

"I just sent your friends away for supper," Madam Pomfrey continued while I figured she was referring to the twins. "I'm sure they'll be back before curfew."

I smiled at her words but frowned at how I had missed their tryouts. I hoped everyone had made the team.

Twenty minutes later I heard the door to the hospital wing open. I looked over to see the twins return my gaze.

"Hare!" Fred shouted as they bounded towards my bed.

"Thank Merlin you're alright!" George added as they both sat down around my bed.

"We just had to tell the others you were still unconscious," Fred added as I frowned for making them worry. "Was it Flint?" Fred asked intensely, causing me to my gaze away.

"What did he do to you?!" Fred insisted as I fought to look back at my friends.

"I'm so embarrassed. He jinxed me after I put my own spell on him, but I was standing at the top of the stairs. It nudged me over and sent me falling," I admitted, feeling my frustration growing.

"That bloody bastard!" Fred roared.

"Fred, it was my fault, I let him get the upper hand!" I explained dejectedly.

"Marnie, he shouldn't be trying to attack you in the first place," George said firmly while taking my hand gently. It was like he was handling a porcelain doll.

"Yea, you're right," I said quietly knowing I had lost the argument.

My eyes were already growing heavy despite the fact that I had just woken up.

"We'll let you get some sleep Hare," Fred said knowingly, already getting up to leave.

I watched them exit just as my eyes fell shut.

The next time I woke up I felt the weight of a body sitting on the edge of the bed. My eyes fluttered open as I looked into an unexpected pair of twinkling eyes.

"Ah, it's good to see you are awake Miss O'Hara," the headmaster looked at me in interest.

"Is it standard for the headmaster to visit all of the students who end up in the hospital wing?" I asked curiously.

"I'm afraid not my child. I did indeed take a particular interest after hearing from Professor McGonagall that you had literally landed yourself in here," he said with deep concern in his eyes.

I nodded, contemplating how much I wanted to divulge to the older wizard. Of course I didn't want to cover for Flint, but I didn't know what would happen if I did confess. Plus, I was still angry with myself for letting Flint get away.

"You know, it is an admirable Gryffindor quality, weighing the outcomes for certain circumstances and not wanting to show weakness in the presence of their foes. However, I must press the issue that outward and malicious prejudice is not tolerated at Hogwarts, especially when it lands one of my students in the hospital wing," Professor Dumbledore continued as if he could read my conflicted mind.

"It's because of my dad," I whispered, feeling the sadness I felt that not everyone would accept my father for how he was born, despite not knowing him or how much he means to me. I knew that was why Flint always targeted me; calling me a dirty squib.

"Ah, Joss is a brave man Miss O'Hara. I understand the fierce protectiveness you must feel for him, but I also know he wouldn't want you ending up physically injured trying to maintain his good name. As long as he remains the man he is, which I'm sure he always will, his character can never truly be questioned. Even from blood supremacist families such as the Flint's," Dumbledore explained as he let on more of what he knew about the situation.

"You know my father?" I asked before it dawned on me. "The Order."

"Yes my dear child, Joss was always an imperative person to have around, regardless of his magical abilities. He dedicated his life to Lena and their friends. Nothing can ever be more brave or commendable that that," the headmaster continued as I nodded. "You have his same determination, but of course you carry Lena's gentler spirit," he added kindly.

It felt strange hearing of my parents from the headmaster. I felt like I hardly knew this version of my father; more outgoing, more driven. Not that my father was unmotivated, he just didn't branch out much anymore. And my mother with her time in the Order, I felt Professor Dumbledore was probably one of the last people who could tell me about her from that time. Knowing her right up until she was tortured.

"Nonetheless, I must let you rest child. I know Madam Pomfrey would like you to stay until this evening before releasing you. Therefore, I will talk to Professor Snape and see to it that a careful eye is rested on Mr. Flint. Now relax and I will let both Mr. Weasley's know that they can return to your bedside if that is alright with you?" Dumbledore asked with that twinkle returning to his eye.

"Oh yes, they can come in," I answered as he stood up and headed towards the door.

Fred and George entered moments after the headmaster had taken his exit.

"What did Professor Dumbledore have to say?" George asked while he took his usual seat across from his brother.

"Oh, just asking about Flint," I answered calmly.

"Is that slimy git being expelled?" Fred asked with a hint of delight in his eyes.

"No, I don't think so. But Dumbledore was pretty explicit that they're not going to let Flint continue to harass me," I answered more confidently than I felt.

George took my hand and nodded.

"Well we will also put a stop to anything that gets passed the teachers," Fred continued confidently which made me smile.

"Mr. Weasleys! Miss O'Hara needs to rest so she can be able to attend dinner this evening. She will kindly meet up with you then, but in the meantime you are banned from this hospital wing," Madam Pomfrey came out reprimanding the twins.

George grabbed Fred before he could make a scene and they both bid me farewell as the matron gave me another sleeping draught. I felt much less achy than I had the first time I had woken up the day before and I was looking forward to not having to be put to sleep every few hours from the bustling matron. It would also be nice to be able to hang out with my friends again and not have Fred give me that blatant worried look anymore or have George treat me like a fragile doll. Before the potion took hold I swore to myself that next time I would be ready. Flint wouldn't threaten me anymore.


	12. Best Friends

Over the next few weeks my friends wouldn't let me go anywhere by myself. Between classes I started noticing that they would form a loose circle around me while we walked down the corridor. They would also guide me to sit in the middle of our group during classes and meals; plus the girls wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom alone anymore. I would have found it annoying, but I was honestly happy to have friends as kind and protective as they were.

Today was the first quidditch game of the year and I noticed that Lee and I were the only ones actually eating our breakfast. Even the twins looked a little green as they stared down at their food. They were facing off against Ravenclaw whose team consisted mostly of sixth and seventh year students.

"Hare," Fred said while I turned my gaze to look at him. "We all thought it over and decided that you should sit with Hagrid at the game today."

I could see the seriousness in his expression, there was no room for debate.

"Coincidently he is already planning on attending the match and we have already asked him to sit with you," Fred continued as I just stared between all of my friends who nodded in agreement.

Obviously this had all been a plan the six of them had made; presumably because Lee would be sitting in the announcer's box and the others would be out on the field. And last time they had all been at the pitch without me I had ended up in the hospital wing for two days. I was thankful for how much they obviously cared for me but this did seem a little drastic, especially making plans without my involvement. At least I really liked Hagrid.

I let out a sigh, "Oh alright, I'll sit with Hagrid," I said and rolled my eyes for dramatic effect.

As if on cue I heard a loud voice from behind me.

 _"Ready ter go 'hen Marnie?"_ Hagrid asked as I spun around to see the half-giant standing behind me.

I looked back at all my friends with a half-afforded glare before standing up and following Hagrid. They were all giving me meaningful smiles which I couldn't help returning and gave them a thumbs up for good luck before exiting the Great Hall.

Hagrid and I headed to the pitch alongside most of the school and ended up sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor stands, giving Hagrid enough room to sit.

 _"Haven' seen yeh in a while Marnie_ ," Hagrid started once we were seated and waiting for the teams to arrive.

"Yea, my friends have been a bit protective of me lately. I haven't really had any time to myself," I answered, noticing Charlie heading to meet the Ravenclaw captain who was already standing in front of Madam Hooch.

" _Well I know Fang 'ould love ter see yeh,"_ Hagrid answered which caused me to look up at him and smile.

"I would like that too, how about tomorrow? I have my afternoon free after Transfiguration and I'm sure I can talk my friends into letting me go down and see you," I told him with a smile.

" _The twins told me wha' happened. Ruddy 'orrible how tha' boy is treatin' yeh,"_ Hagrid looked at me with a sad smile.

"Yea, but Professor Dumbledore is looking into it. I'll be alright," I told him reassuringly.

 _"Dumbledore's true ter 'is word Marnie. Yeh'll be safe_ ," Hagrid said confidently with a gleam in his eye.

I couldn't help but return Hagrid's infectious smile before turning my attention onto the field. My friends were already mounted on their brooms and Madam Hooch was lifting the whistle to her mouth. When it went off moments later everyone instantly fled off in different directions.

"And they're off," I heard Lee from the announcer's box.

"Johnson is the first to catch the quaffle, not too shabby for her first ever game," he continued which made me smile at his accreditation to our friend.

"Johnson passes it to Bell who is heading towards the Ravenclaw goalpost. Oh, but her hand's knocked by a bludger aimed by Correll," I watched as the quaffle fell from Katie's hands into another chaser's who had been flying underneath.

"Donaldson carries the quaffle and passes it to McKinley who is nearing the Gryffindor posts. McKinley aims the quaffle and- scores. Wood misses the quaffle by an inch," Lee continued in a dejected tone.

"Ravenclaw scores the first goal of the game. Now Martin is carrying the quaffle and passes it back to Donaldson who drops the quaffle. One of the Weasley beaters hit a nicely aimed bludger at him. Way to go George! Or is it Fred? Anyways, Spinnet catches the quaffle and makes her way down the pitch. She lines it up for the score but Thompson is there to make the save. Bad luck there Leesh, but keep it up!" Lee commented enthusiastically.

I turned my attention over to where Lee was commentating and saw Professor McGonagall leaning down to whisper in his ear.

The rest of the game went by in a flurry of exertion. I could see the determination of my friends heighten as the scores became further and further apart. Currently, Ravenclaw was winning 90-20. They had been playing for about twenty minutes with the older Ravenclaws expertly maneuvering around the newer Gryffindors.

I could see the frustration in my friends' faces when all of a sudden I saw Charlie and the other seeker fly off in a rushing effort to catch the snitch.

"Weasley and Harris are neck-in-neck going for the snitch. Harris reaches- and he has it. Ravenclaw wins," Lee said rather unexcitedly.

The Ravenclaws were visibly ecstatic along with the Slytherins who were always happy to see the Gryffindors' beaten. Hagrid and I then made our way down from the stands to meet up with my friends. He left me just outside the change rooms so I could wait while he returned down to the grounds. Minutes later my friends came out looking fairly dejected.

"It was a good game guys," I said, trying to put some conviction in my voice.

They were all dragging their feet as we headed back towards the castle.

"We were rubbish," Katie said, obviously frustrated from the results of the game.

"Yea, we're going to have to practice twice as hard for the next game," Ange said more determinedly.

"Slytherin has another thing coming if they think they're going to win against us," Fred said even more confidently as we all agreed and headed towards the Great Hall for lunch.

XXX

I had woken up twenty minutes ago to end up staring at myself in the mirror. I noticed that my hair had gotten longer over the past year since it now hung down my back instead of just hanging off my shoulders. Plus, it had a slightly darker chestnut hue than before. Looking at my eyes, they were still noticeably orange but I found I liked them more and more and was less embarrassed by how vibrant they were. Today marked the first day of being thirteen and I was looking for any physical indicators. I tried to remember back to last year and could actually see some of the differences in my appearance since then. I still wasn't much taller but I looked a little more mature; more angular and less rounded.

When I finally started getting ready and headed downstairs, the girls were still asleep in their beds. Today was Saturday which was an added birthday bonus, and I knew they would continue to sleep for the next few hours since they had all been practicing quidditch whenever they could. Ange and the others were determined to bring Gryffindor the upcoming win during the next game on the first of November and were tirelessly training to achieve their goal. Not wanting to wake them, I slowly closed the door behind me and headed downstairs where I surprisingly found the twins already sitting on one of the worn couches.

"I figured you two would be asleep for ages," I said, causing them to turn around at the sound of my voice.

"Nah, can't miss any time for your birthday," George said even though I could see the dark circles under both of their eyes.

"Really guys, I won't mind if you head back up. I'm sure Lee won't venture down anytime soon anyways," I added, knowing Lee was always the last of us to wake up every morning.

"Trying to get rid of us Hare?" Fred asked slyly.

"Of course not…" I answered before being cut off.

"Alright then, no question about it. Let's head down to the kitchens and see what Posy can whip up for us!" Fred said excitedly, already up and pulling me out of the portrait hole.

We decided to take the muffins and other pastries Posy had given us out to the lake. In great birthday fashion we took the secret passageway that leads from the second floor of the west towers out to a rock formation beside the lake. There was a nice, grassy area near the shoreline where we sat out and ate our fill while watching the sun rise over the lake. It felt blissful to just enjoy the quiet company of my best friends and feel the warmth wash over me from the rising sun. It wasn't long after we had finished our breakfast that I noticed George lean up against the tree and doze off; indicated by his rhythmic breathing. Fred however stayed awake and sat with me in an easy silence. As we sat together I noticed him sporadically turn his gaze towards me and stare for a few moments before returning his gaze back to the lake. It wasn't uncommon to catch Fred staring at me whenever we were together, he had done it ever since we met. I also hardly ever called him out on it but George would often do so if he noticed me getting uncomfortable about it. But that had only been in the beginning of first year; I had gotten used to it since then.

"Why do you do that?" I asked before slowly turning my head to meet his gaze.

"Do what?" Fred returned innocently.

"Always stare at me. It's weird and uncalled for," I answered still looking at him expectantly.

"Because you're beautiful," Fred answered simply.

I started to feel the heat flush my face, forcing my gaze to return back to the lake. Fred was always forthcoming and blunt, but this seemed almost too direct, even for him.

Also at that moment, if I had looked by the tree, I would have seen a small smile appear on George's face.

"You, you think I'm beautiful?" I stuttered, not knowing what else to say.

"I thought I told you that when we met last year on the train. Your eyes, they're incredible. I can never get used to them. Plus, they bring out the orange in your hair. And obviously I have an affinity towards those with red hair," Fred said smugly before continuing. "You're my best friend Hare, I should be allowed to look at you," he stated nonchalantly.

"Yea, I guess," I said quietly, still at a loss of how to take in Fred's words.

We were best friends but I still didn't know all of what that entailed. Maybe the whole staring thing was normal for friends as close as us. But George never stared like Fred did. It made me feel very confused but I felt the issue had been settled for the moment after Fred's matter-of-fact explanation. He obviously didn't feel there was anything askew about his actions and it's not like the attention was unwanted. I just didn't know what it meant while Fred seemed to think it was an indication of our friendship.

Soon after, we noticed the girls and a very sleepy Lee coming down the hill to join us. They all wished me a happy birthday and sat in a circle around us. George woke up when they joined in on our conversation which wasn't really about anything in particular. We just spent the quiet afternoon outside enjoying the sunshine and a reprieve away from studies and quidditch.

"Her Marn, I have the perfect idea to celebrate your birthday!" Ange exclaimed excitedly and stood up, offering her had for me to do the same.

Before I could inquire, she continued with her suggestion.

"Why don't we all get our brooms and watch the sun set?" One of us can pair off with you and Lee and we can all fly around and enjoy the last of the warm evening," Ange continued as everyone agreed to the idea.

We then all headed for the pitch while Angelina, Katie, Alicia and the twins gathered their brooms from the storage.

George was the first one to meet Lee and I at the pitch while I could see the others following closely behind.

"Come on birthday girl," George smiled, reaching his hand towards mine.

I graciously let George guide me to sit on his broom. It felt odd, climbing onto the front of the broom stick while George put his arms around me from behind. But once George was settled, we kicked off the ground and I could see my friends getting ready to mount their own brooms. Alicia and Katie were soon following us and Lee was getting on the back of Fred's broom. Typically that was the easiest way for people to sit two to a broom, but I figured because I was still so small that George felt more comfortable having me up front.

"So what does thirteen feel like?" George asked as we flew around the pitch at a cruising speed.

"Much like twelve did. But I did notice I do look different from my last birthday," I answered.

George laughed, "Well you do look a little goofier."

I elbowed him in the ribs which caused the broom to weave slightly.

"Don't be knocking us out of the air now Marn. I don't think Fred would ever forgive us," George said with a smile in his voice.

"Why is he always so serious about me? I mean I know you guys are my best friends, but he gets so intense about some things. Plus, he stares at me all the time," I continued, wanting to get his twin's opinion.

"We love you Marnie, and it's just how Fred shows it. He's never had to be as protective of me like he is with you," George explained gently. "Plus, we know you can fight your own battles but it doesn't mean we want you to have to. People have treated you more harshly than us and it's not like me or Fred to stand idly by," he continued.

I put my hand over his which was still gripping the broom.

"I don't know what I would do without the two of you," I said quietly, leaning back slightly more into George.

It was always so comforting to be around them, even when their antics drove me crazy. But it was worth it to have their level of friendship and loyalty. Plus, it's not like I minded the pranks and mischief.

"You would have likely been a little cast-off, only hanging out with the house-elves," George said jokingly, earning him another elbow jab.

"Posy would make an excellent friend!" I exclaimed sincerely.

"Yea, but like I told you in first year, we're not letting you get away that easily," George replied referring to our first trip to Hogwarts, when I hadn't been able to keep up with the group at Hogsmeade station.

We then went into an easy silence as we raced around with the others under the setting sun. Fred and Lee raced me and George but lost handily in their efforts; much to my enjoyment. It was only right before the sun disappeared under the horizon that we glided back down to the ground and headed towards the castle for dinner. That night we had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, just like Posy had made me a year before. I smiled at the thought that house-elves really do make good friends. Plus, the twins and the others were pretty great too.


	13. Dreamer

Right after my birthday, autumn seemingly disappeared without a trace. The cool October chill breathed the promise of winter much to the chagrin of my friends who were constantly practicing quidditch for the upcoming November match.

Today was Halloween and I was happily awaiting the celebratory feast that was set to take place later this evening. We just had to get through Potions first which I actually didn't mind despite the Potions master who was a character all in himself. He was constantly reprimanding any Gryffindor for the most trivial things. Last week Lee had lost five points for sneezing.

"Today you will be brewing a Sleeping Draught. If any of your incompetent brains can brew this potion adequately, it is typically strong enough to have lasting effects for six hours. However, body size does take into account. For example, larger built individuals, such as Mr. Flint, would only be put out for five hours whereas scrawny little things like Miss. O'Hara would be put out for seven. This is to be taken into account upon administration which is especially important in a hospital setting where this potion is regularly administered by healers," Professor Snape finished with a sneer.

I could also see Flint smirking at me from across the room.

"Also remember to crush the wormwood, not cut it. Anyone who does this will be missing their eyebrows, and probably their nose," Snape commented snidely while looking over to the side of the room where the Gryffindor's sat.

After successfully stifling myself from rolling my eyes at Snape's insinuation I paired off with Angelina while Katie paired with Alicia and the twins with each other. Lee often partnered with Kenneth Towler who was a boy in their dorm. He was friendly enough, but he often became a target for the twin's antics, which was probably the reason he didn't hang out with us much outside of class.

Ninety minutes later Ange and I were handing in our phial of Sleeping Draught which I felt met Snape's _adequate_ standard. It had been difficult in the end due to the effects of the potion which gives off a wafting yellow cloud to indicate its completion which also causes mild drowsiness. As we were finishing up the rest of our friends had already submitted their potions and were now cleaning their stations.

"Oi Marnie, I'm famished here!" Lee exclaimed as the rest of my friends were now making their way for the door to head to the Great Hall for dinner.

"I'll be right behind you guys," I waved as Fred and George gave me a meaningful look.

I knew they were still hesitant about ever leaving me alone but I waved them off again since I still had to collect all my belonging and Lee was now exaggeratedly chewing on his own arm.

"Go, I think Lee needs you more than I do right now," I said before turning back to collect my things.

The twins hesitantly followed Lee and the girls out as I put the last few of my things into my rucksack. After I was sure I had collected everything I made my way towards the door before stopping at the sound of an angry voice. Outside the classroom I could hear Professor Snape chastising a student.

"Mr. Flint, you imbecile. I am taking ten points from Slytherin," Snape remarked coldly while I could hear Flint start to protest.

"Do you think I enjoy taking points from my own house? I would have hoped by now you would have learned to read and follow simple instructions," Snape replied.

I angled myself so I could see their interaction without giving myself away. This was in time to watch Flint give Snape one last glare before storming off.

I stood rooted in place waiting for Snape to hopefully leave for the Great Hall.

"Five points from Gryffindor Miss O'Hara. For eaves dropping," Snape added without even looking at me before taking his leave.

Despite losing more points for my house I stood smirking at what I had heard before going off to catch up with my friends. I guess those precious Slytherin's weren't all great at potions, even compared to us lowly Gryffindor's.

When I got to the feast I could see Fred become more visibly relaxed as he saw me approach.

Taking a seat between Lee and Katie I looked at the assortment of food which all looked phenomenal. Candied apples, cauldron cakes, pumpkin-pops, black forest cake, spiced plums, apple crumble, poached pears and fig tarts were all laid out among other dishes that weren't placed right in front of me where I sat down. My stomach started rumbling in anticipation.

We sat and stuffed our faces until an hour later when we retreated to the common room where we fell onto the first available chairs. The amount of food I had eaten put me in a sluggish state where I found myself closing my eyes and listening to my friend's easy chatter. The familiar hum of their voices soon lulled into a light sleep.

All of a sudden I was walking through the Great Hall determinedly towards a group of students I found unfamiliar. As I approached them I sat down in the seat I had seemingly been heading towards in between a girl with dark brown hair and a taller blonde boy. Looking over to the boy who greeted me I was taken aback.

"Dad?" I said aloud but knew he hadn't heard me. It was like my voice was an echo, unheard by the people around me.

"Penn, have you written to Joss today?" I felt my mouth move and was surprised to hear these words come out and be acknowledged by the boy.

"Not yet, I know it's been a couple of days but I've been busy preparing for tomorrow's quidditch match against Gryffindor," the blonde boy replied.

"Well he's been writing to me every day wondering about you. You should really write to him," I spoke again, realizing I didn't recognize the sound of my voice as my own.

I reactively lifted my hands to my lips and was even more surprised to see that my robes were adorned with yellow instead of red. This caused me to anxiously grab for my mother's pendant which always gave me comfort when I felt nervous and saw that the gem was amber instead of the ruby I was used to. I was really starting to panic.

"Lena, are you going to help me with the Potions assignment? Professor Slughorn is expecting the assignment tomorrow," the girl beside me asked which made me turn to look at her.

She had shoulder length, dark brown hair and big brown eyes. Even though I had only seen her as an adult, she shared those eyes with her son. This was Alice Fortescue, Neville's mother. I fought the urge to cry as I saw the life and awareness in the young Alice's eyes. The panic I felt then started to escalate, causing me to stand up from my seat and head for the exit.

"Lena, what's wrong?" the younger Alice asked from behind me but I had already started retreating.

Soon I noticed that my surroundings had started to blacken. The blurry scenery of the Great Hall then changed to show the hospital room which housed my mother, but I was looking at it from down on the floor. I noticed my body was laying in weird angles and there was something inhibiting me from calling out for help. Every time I tried to cry out it was like my voice was gone. All I could hear was my own soft whimpering before a healer I knew by the name of Mr. Poke entered and gazed down at me with worry.

"Marnie, are you ok?" I heard the healer ask me in a different yet familiar voice.

"Hare, wake up," he said which made me more confused and my surroundings went blurry again.

"Wake up!" I heard someone shout and startled me awake.

I looked around me anxiously and saw my friends all watching me with concern. Thankfully, I realized I was still sitting in the chair I had nodded off in after the feast.

"You were having a nightmare Hare," Fred said worriedly.

"Yea, you kept murmuring something about a girl named Alice," Ange said quietly as the others nodded.

"Oh, that's strange," I replied in a whispered voice before standing up.

"Must be all that sugar from the feast. I think I'm going to call it a night," I said, already turning to go towards the girl's staircase.

"Yea I'm going to call it too," Katie said, following me up the stairs.

I could feel all of their stares on the back of my head as I walked away. I think only Ange knew I got nightmares since she often woke me up from them. I had never confided in anyone about my frequenting nightmares including the twins or my father. This one however had been different. Usually, they were just filled with smoke or mist with jets of colour shooting around. Or blurry, unfocused backgrounds and my mother's crumpled body. They were always horrible, especially with the sounds of my mother screaming, but I had never had flashbacks of my mother's life. I didn't even know how that was possible, especially since I obviously hadn't been there when these events took place. I hadn't even been born. From the looks of it my mother and her friends had been in their fifth year. My parents hadn't even started dating until the end of my mother's sixth year despite them being friends for years before that.

I laid in my bed quietly with my eyes closed so that the others wouldn't question me further. After a while I fell into a fitful sleep plagued by my regular nightmares only to be startled awake in the wee hours of the morning by my mother's screams.

That morning I was the first one down to the Great Hall, not being able to sleep anymore despite my level of exhaustion.

My friends joined me twenty minutes later, all looking nervous about the quidditch game against Slytherin which was set for today. None of us ate very much, except for Lee who was piling on the bacon and eggs. As I sipped at my tea I heard screeches from the owls which indicated the daily post arrival. I saw a peppered white and black owl approaching me which I knew belonged to my father for his editing business. This owl's name was Caelum and he had belonged to my father for years, and frequently brought letters to me from him. So I wasn't surprised when the owl arrived with a letter tied to his leg. I gave him a piece of toast to eat as a show of affection before I went to open the letter. I also pet the kindly bird who nipped at my fingers playfully.

I un-scrolled the letter to see my father's hasty handwriting.

 _Marnie,_

 _Your mother injured herself last night somehow when getting out of bed. Healer Poke has informed me that she has a broken leg and sprained wrist. I am headed for St. Mungo's right now and Augusta has also informed me she has already checked in on her today. There is no need to worry, I promise to send an update tomorrow. You know this isn't the first time your mother has injured herself unsupervised. She just gets confused at night and sometimes doesn't know where she is. I don't want you to panic Marnie and I promise to tell you if anything else happens._

 _I love you so much Little Badger,_

 _-Dad_

The letter ended with the nickname my father had given me from the time I was born and only really used when I was upset. Obviously, it had come from my mother being a Hufflepuff.

I felt tears sting my eyes in fear and worry for my mother. How could I have seen this? Last night I had seen my mother hurt and lying on the floor with her broken leg. In the dream it had been me, but it had been a _dream._ How had I seen something that happened in real life? This was impossibly absurd and was making my stomach become nauseated as a result.

"Hare, everything okay?" Fred asked, bringing me out of my spiraling panic.

"It's my mother, she broke her leg," I replied as Fred and the rest of my friends dawned worried gazes.

"Marnie," Angelina said quietly, "you've never mentioned your mother before," she continued in a soft tone before I looked up at my friends feeling even more overwhelmed.

I couldn't explain my mother right now as I tried to frantically piece together what seeing my mother in my dream meant. It hadn't been a prophecy since I had probably seen it happen in real time. Plus, seeing my mother's memories was not part of the Seer repertoire. But I didn't think any of this merited anything good; sane people should not be able to see thoughts and scenarios play out hundreds of miles away from someone else's mind.

"Hey Hare, look at me," Fred said as I started to feel dizzy.

"Hare, I need you to look at me," Fred said a little more sternly while I forced myself to look him in the eyes.

Fred brought my hand to his chest.

"Breathe with me Hare," he said, as I somehow feeling the rise and fall of his chest.

I eventually matched his calm breathing and realized mine had been quite elevated. I could start to feel the anxiety subside but my mind was still reeling at the unfolding reality of what happened. I didn't even know whom I could tell since this seemed so unprecedented. What if it meant I was insane? Or dangerous? Maybe my mother wasn't the only one I could see? Or worse what if I had had something to do with my mother getting hurt?

"I'm sorry," I said, suddenly too overwhelmed to be around anyone.

I stood up abruptly and ran out of the Great Hall. I could hear my friends shouting after me and half expected them to follow, so I quickened my pace. I couldn't face having to explain myself right now or anything about my mother. I decidedly headed towards the hidden passageway that would lead out to the lake but stopped just before the exit at the other end. I then sat down in the opening of the passageway where I could see the lake through the rocky camouflage. I remained in the enclosure to avoid running into anyone, even though most people were now heading out to the quidditch pitch. I felt guilty that I wouldn't be cheering on my friends who had been practicing vigorously to be able to beat Slytherin, but I just couldn't face seeing anyone at the moment.

After a while I could hear the cheering from the pitch as well as Lee's faint commentary of the game.

"Weasley hits the bludger towards Pucey who drops the ball," I could hear Lee between my swirling thoughts.

 _What if I was crazy?_

"Bell catches the quaffle."

 _What if my friends didn't believe me?_

"Spinnet scores the goal."

 _What if I was responsible for hurting my mother?_

"Johnson takes the penalty shot."

 _How would my father react?_

"Weasley sees the snitch."

 _Would Fred still want to protect me?_

"Gryffindor wins!"

 _What am I supposed to do?_

I could hear the sounds of most of the school returning to the castle. Thirty minutes later I also heard two sets of footsteps approaching my location from within the hidden passage. The twins sat down on either side of me without saying anything. Soon after George put his arm around me which seemed like the last delicate straw. I broke into sobs.

"Hare, what happened?" Fred asked gently while George rocked me back and forth.

"I'm possessed. You shouldn't be near me. I might be dangerous," I blurted out between sobs.

"Marnie, what in the name of Merlin are you talking about?" George asked incredulously.

I tried to calm my breathing down and fight back the sobs to try and explain my thoughts to the twins. Once I had somewhat calmed down I described what had happened in my dream and how I had seen my mother's friends. I also explained how everything had changed and I was transported to my mother's hospital room to see her hurt and trying to call for help. The constant throughout the dream had been that I had taken my mother's place in both scenarios which could be how I caused her to get hurt. Maybe my running had moved her in real life, causing her to fall and break her leg.

Once I confessed everything I went quiet and tried to catch my breath.

"Hare, you actually believe you hurt your mother?" Fred asked dubiously.

"And you think you have the potential to hurt us or others?" George added in a careful voice.

"Well yea," I said wearily.

"Hare, that's not true. You have to believe us when we say that's just not possible," Fred said earnestly.

"But how do you know? It's not like I wanted to hurt my mother but I could have unknowingly," I retorted.

"We know because we're your best friends. You couldn't have hurt your mother, it's against your nature Marnie. You're fiercely protective and braver than you know; especially when it comes to your family," George said confidently.

I paused, taking in their words.

Sensing my hesitation Fred moved to sit in front of me and looked me in the eyes.

"One day you're going to realize why you were sorted into Gryffindor. You're going to see what George and I see without reassurance. But until then, George and I are here to tell you that you don't have the capacity to hurt anyone. You're fair and fierce and strong without having the intolerable ego. Your reason for being here is to protect the ones you love, not hurt them. And you will always succeed in that, which is why we feel the obligation to protect you in return," Fred said seriously.

I immediately started thinking about what the Sorting Hat had told me the year before; about being inwardly brave and having to build my confidence in order to protect myself and the ones I love. It was almost eerie to hear similar words coming from my best friend. What was I missing that was seemingly obvious to those around me?

"Okay," I said to Fred before wrapping my arms around him.

I stayed in his embrace for a few drawn out moments as I felt his grip tighten over me. It was a comforting gesture and made me actually calm down for the first time since reading the letter.

"I'm sorry I missed the match," I said sincerely. "I really wanted to see it."

"We understand Marnie," George answered with a smile.

"I heard you won," I said which caused them both to smile.

"Yea, we were loads better!" Fred said enthusiastically.

"All that practicing thankfully paid off!" George added.

"I'm sure Ange and the others are pleased," I said before my smile dropped.

"Hare, we talked to them about your mother," Fred said knowingly.

"We just told them not to bring it up until you felt ready to tell them yourself," George continued which made me return a small smile.

"Thank-you. You really are the best friends I could have asked for," I said trying to fight off more tears.

"Yea, we couldn't have you running around with those quaint little Hufflepuffs," George teased. "Or the house-elves," he continued as I jabbed him in the ribs.

"On second thought, you two are just a couple of hopeless prats who need me to save you from yourselves," I remarked with a smirk. "Or just save everyone else from you," I added as George went to swat me before I ducked and started running down the tunnel.

The twins followed me all the way to the Great Hall where we sat down with our friends for dinner. I sat between Ange and Katie to save myself from the twins' reckoning.

Once I was seated I saw Ange give me a worried look before I put my arm around her reassuringly. She leaned her head onto my shoulder in return. I was grateful that Ange and I could communicate through non-verbal cues. She knew I would tell her everything later, but I just wasn't ready yet.


	14. A Weasley Christmas

It was the week before Christmas break and the school grounds were covered with a fresh blanket of fluffy snow from the previous night. This inevitably meant that the seven of us were racing down to the grounds to take advantage of the opportune winter's day which also gratefully happened to be on a Saturday. I was currently helping Alicia and Katie make a fort while Ange helped the boys make an immensely large snowman. Precariously, they decided to place the snowman right outside the fort's opening, much like a sentry to a castle. They even leaned a large branch against it as a makeshift staff. An hour later we stood back to admire our efforts.

George and Lee however took the moment to shove the snowman over onto the fort.

"You prats!" I yelled as they doubled over in laughter.

In retribution I bent down and made a snowball before taking aim at George's head. It pelted him straight in the nose.

"Hey!" he yelled as he wiped the snow from his face.

"Serves you right," I said in a dignified tone while crossing my arms over my chest.

"Well I'd get running if I were you," George replied smugly as he and Lee bent down to form their own snowballs.

Without another word I turned and dashed to the other side of the grounds followed by the girls. A snowball fight soon broke out, boys against girls, as Fred decidedly joined the enemy team.

It paid to have three chasers on my team, plus I wasn't a bad shot myself. I had just pelted Lee in the shoulder while Ange and Katie landed shots on George's back and Alicia hit Fred in the chest. But the competitiveness of the boys kept us on high alert as they mischievously set up traps and cornered us if we broke away from the group. I had decided to try and circle around to where the boys were huddled behind a tree while the girls launched a frontal assault. However, the boys had magically rigged the ground behind them to swallow the person up to their hips if they stepped in the right spot.

Letting out a scream as I fell into the cold earth the boys looked back at me in hysterics.

"Looks like we caught a Hare," Fred said while still laughing.

"Ha, ha, very funny, you prat," I told him as I crossed my arms over my chest.

My feet were already aching from the cold and my torso was starting to go numb.

"Why don't you get me out of here?" I asked Fred as he approached the hole I was stuck in.

"You have to admit, it's a pretty funny bit," Fred said amusingly.

"Which part? Freezing to death or being stuck?" I said mockingly, trying to bait him.

"Oh come on Hare, lighten up. It's all in good fun," Fred tried to say reassuringly as I watched the girls all sneaking up behind him.

"No, _this_ is fun," I said causing Fred to have a confused look on his face.

Just then Alicia, Angelina and Katie all bombarded Fred with snowballs in the back. I could see him stiffen at surprise of being pelted from behind but didn't dare turn around so to avoid being hit in the face. He then dropped to his knees and covered the back of his head with his arms before raising them in surrender.

"Looks like you fell into our trap actually," I said with a smirk, also noticing Lee and George slowly making their way to our location.

They had previously been ambushed by the girls while I had been distracting Fred. All part of the plan.

"Alright Hare, the girls get this round," Fred said begrudgingly as he stood up and pulled me out of the snow.

I immediately started shaking after having being submerged and having all my layers soaked through in the freezing weather.

"Better get you warmed up Hare," Fred said, already taking my hand and leading me up towards the castle.

Angelina, Katie and Alicia were all giving each other high fives as George and Lee followed them dejectedly back up towards the castle. The two boys both had snow in their hair and looked as if they had been hit from all directions. They were always too trusting of us.

We all headed to the Gryffindor Tower so we could change and sit by the fire. Lee and Katie decided to play exploding snap while Ange and Alicia went to walk around the castle to stretch their legs. This left the twins and me deciding to go down to the kitchens.

We walked down to the basement in an easy silence, all still exhausted from the hours we had spent outside. When we entered the kitchens however our easy silence was cut when we became immersed in the bustle of the house-elves cleaning up the supper dishes.

"Miss Marnee! Mr. Wheezies!" we heard Posy calling out as she ran up to greet us.

"Hello Posy, how are you today?" I asked politely, seeing the house elf light up.

"Always so nice to Posy, Miss. Marnee is! I is well miss. What can Posy get for you?" she asked before leading us to the small table in the back.

"Some hot chocolate would be great," Fred said once we all sat down.

"I get your hot chocolate right away! Miss Marnee and Mr. Wheezies must be cold from the snow! I get this for you right away!" Posy said before she ran off towards the ovens.

"Marnie, we got a letter from mum today," George said gleefully.

"Oh yea, how is she? How's Ron and Ginny?" I asked, not having heard an update in a while.

"She says that you and your dad are invited over for Christmas dinner as well as New Year's Eve," Fred said excitedly.

"Oh that sounds wonderful!" I said since I had always secretly hoped I would be able to spend Christmas with them.

"Yea, mum always puts a big effort into Christmas and New Year's. Lots of food and friends over. It's always a lot of fun," George continued with a wide grin.

"Sounds fantastic," I said, now watching as Posy set down our hot chocolates.

I turned to the house elf before she started to walk away.

"Oh Posy," I called out to get her attention.

"Yes miss," she replied politely with a big smile.

"I wanted to give you your Christmas present," I said, immediately causing the house elf to gape in silence.

The twins also looked at me ruefully.

"That better not be clothing," Fred mumbled as the speechless elf stepped closer with even bigger eyes.

"Hush, we've learned about house elves in History of Magic. I know they won't accept clothing," I whispered severely. "I would never offend Posy," I added before turning back to look at her.

"Here you go Posy, it's a Christmas card," I said as I put the envelope into her little hands.

"A Christmas card?" Posy asked quietly as she opened the paper to reveal a piece of parchment with a drawing of herself in the kitchens with added Christmas decorations in the background.

I didn't draw regularly but I wasn't half bad when I put my mind to it. I had often drawn things for my dad and Remus growing up, both of whom had actually framed a few of them.

I watched as Posy stared at the picture as her eyes started to well up.

"Oh Posy, I didn't mean to offend you!" I said hurriedly. "I thought it was just clothing you couldn't receive," I looked at the house elf worriedly.

"Miss Marnee is too kind to Posy!" the house elf wailed as she flung herself onto my lap.

"Well you're my friend too Posy," I explained, only making the house elf's sobs become louder.

"Posy does not have any possessions Miss Marnee. I shall go put the picture under my pillow," Posy said, running towards the other side of the room, carefully pressing the card to her little chest.

I looked after Posy as she disappeared into another part of the kitchens before turning back to the twins. George was smiling at me with a mocking look while Fred just shook his head.

"You are one of a kind Marnie," was all George said as Fred just looked at me with an undecipherable expression.

We then stood up and headed out of the portrait hole.

"Care to throw a few dung bombs into the Hufflepuff common room?" Fred asked revealing some from the depths of his pockets.

He also took out the map to see if Mrs. Norris or anyone else was approaching. I nodded and took one of the bombs out of Fred's hand before approaching the entrance which looked like a bunch of stacked barrels. I stood there for a few moments before turning back to look at the twins.

"What should I do?" I asked since no one was heading out of the common room like last time.

"Knock?" Fred answered with a shrug.

I gave him a skeptical look before turning back to the stack of barrels. I knocked twice and paused before knocking three more times a little louder. To my surprised fortune the entrance opened up and I could see a few Hufflepuffs looking towards me in surprise. We then used that moment of disbelief to chuck the dung bombs and flee back down the hallway. We ran all the way back to the Gryffindor common room before settling down in front of the fire in an innocent manner. Lee and Katie were still sitting together while Ange and Alicia were reportedly upstairs in the dormitory. After a few minutes I decided to head to bed myself and bid everyone good night. By the time my head hit the pillow a few minutes later I fell instantly asleep, dreaming of Christmas cakes and mistletoe.

XXX

A week and a half later was Christmas Eve. Remus was spending the night as per our tradition but had decided not to accompany us to the Burrow the following day. Despite them obviously knowing each other since they had both been associated with the Order, Remus decided to maintain his minimal association with the wizarding world. I was a little disappointed when Remus rejected my dad's offer, but I understood his reasoning. His answer for everything was always him being a werewolf; especially since they were further looked down upon than squibs by the wizarding world, not that I thought the Weasleys would hold such prejudice. However, we were the only family Remus had ever known after Lily, James and Peter were murdered all because of their best friend Sirius Black.

Although we had all been greatly impacted by Sirius' deception and betrayal, Remus had outwardly taken it the worst. He was more reclusive than my dad and coupled his hurt with the realities of being a werewolf. When I looked at my uncle I almost wondered if he considered himself cursed, having lost too much for too steep a price. At the end of the day we still had mum, but Remus had lost the men he considered to be his brothers.

Every now and then he would accompany us to see mum, but I would catch his pained look as the reality of the war always hit him. Remus and my mother had been very close at school, although I knew I didn't know the whole story from their time at Hogwarts. I felt it must be like losing her every time he visited which is why I also wondered how my father could walk into that room every week and not break into pieces.

The three of us had visited my mother the first day I had returned since I wanted to see her after her injury. Dad had told me she had just gotten the cast taken off and was slowly getting back on her feet. We guided her on a short walk around the Permanent Spell Damage ward and even ran into Neville's mother. Augusta had been walking beside Alice who looked straight at my mother without any recognition of her once best friend. My mother also returned the vacant expression as we continued on to my mother's room to put her to bed. Despite how sad it was to visit my mother I was glad we went and ensured that she was alright after her fall. Plus, I ran into Neville and gave him his Christmas present which was a knitted Gryffindor scarf. He smiled sheepishly at me while mumbling something about not being sorted into that particular house. Augusta just scolded her grandson and reassured him that of course he would be sorted into the same house as his parents.

XXX

We spent Christmas Eve playing scrabble and eating sugar plums. Dad made his signature maple-glazed goose since we would be spending both Christmas supper and New Year's Eve with the Weasleys. December 31st fell on a full moon this year so Remus wouldn't be able to come with us even if he had wanted to. So we just enjoyed each other's company before Remus decidedly turned in for the night. We have a small bedroom which also seconds as dad's office for his editing business at the top of the stairs. But because Remus is the only one who ever stays over, it is his unofficial room both when he is and isn't here. The closet is filled with some articles of his clothing and piled with books he has collected over the years. I'm pretty sure the sheets are also from his own bedroom which he brought over for creature comfort.

The next morning I woke up to feel the chill of winter creep in through the old windows and sparse insulation. I hugged the blanket up to my face before deciding to hurry down to the fire which was surely already started. I hurriedly got out of bed and walked to the top of the stairs only to hear my dad and uncle's hushed tones emanating from the sitting room.

"You should come tonight Remus, you know Arthur and Molly would love to see you," my dad said quietly.

I heard Remus sigh in response before answering.

"You know as much as I do that if Marnie hadn't befriended their sons that you wouldn't be in touch with them either."

I frowned as Remus' answer was seemingly truthful.

"You're probably right Remus. But I don't regret being in touch with them now," my dad said gently. "Molly is just as mothering as always while Arthur is just as quiet and caring."

There were a few moments of silence before my uncle responded.

"I'll think about it Joss, but I don't regret living my quiet life with you and Marnie," he paused. "Lena is enough of a reminder of our time from back then," he continued sadly.

I could almost hear the frown on my father's face.

"Remus, you know Marnie and I are always here for you. We're your family. And if it wasn't for you, I don't know how I would have raised her all by myself. We as good as raised Marnie together, but I just want you to consider the possibility of reaching out to old friends. We aren't the only ones who are hurting," my dad replied quietly before I heard him get up and head towards the kitchen.

I heard my uncle sigh after a few moments before getting up to presumably follow him.

"You know our girl wakes up hungry. You better be frying up the works," I heard Remus say with a small laugh.

I frowned at the conversation between my uncle and dad. I was happy to hear that my dad was getting comfortable branching out from our small little life, but it was sad to hear that Remus still held some trepidation about following suit. However, it had taken my father eight years to do so, so maybe Remus just needed more time. Plus, I also couldn't help smile at the reference to being raised by not only my father but my uncle as well. Remus had always been such a large part of my life and I had always gone to him when I didn't want to confide in my dad. Being referred to as 'our girl' was both humbling and comforting.

I waited a few more minutes at the top of the stairs before being overtaken by the cold. I then hurried down the stairs to sit by the fire while hearing my dad and uncle in the kitchen. Remus soon came to join me and handed me a cup of hot chocolate before we started talking about school and the twins. He asked how we were getting along plus wanted to know about all of my other friends. However, he seemed especially interested in how I got along with the twins and even asked about Charlie and Percy whom he also knew were in school. I couldn't help smiling at his want of information on the Weasleys after just hearing their hushed conversation. I figured it could only be a step in the right direction.

"Alright breakfast is on, get it while it's hot," my dad said from the adjacent room.

Remus and I stood, moving towards the wafting scents of eggy toast and sausages.

We all sat down and filled our plates while falling into a comfortable silence. Dad raised his glass of pumpkin juice as we started eating.

"Happy Christmas," he said causing us to raise our own glasses.

I smiled at my dad while I clinked my glass against his before turning back to my food. After breakfast was finished, we went over to the tree to open presents. I sat down in front and was responsible for handing each person a gift. I first gave Remus and my dad each their gift from me. I had gotten my dad a pack of foxglove seeds to be able to plant in our gardens next spring. He smiled at me while Remus opened his own gift which was a sack of wolf's bane seeds. My uncle also looked up at me with a soft expression before quietly thanking me. I had read all about them in the book he had given me last year and figured it would bring him some reprieve from the unforgiving side effects of being a werewolf.

I then reached for a crumpled looking package wrapped in brown paper packaging which was left under the tree. I opened it to find an orange-coloured, homemade sweater with the letter 'M' stitched onto the front. I smiled realizing Mrs. Weasley must have made it for me. I hastily put it on and immediately felt the warmth it provided. My dad was smiling at me as well as Remus.

"I can't believe she still makes those," my dad said with a chuckle.

"Molly always had a motherly spirit. I remember her sometimes knitting those during the Order meetings whenever she could attend," Remus said thoughtfully.

I then continued to pass presents from the tree. Remus had given me another book called _Dark Creatures Lurking in Britain._ I smiled as I would have something else to read over the holidays. Plus, I knew Defense Against the Dark Arts had been his favourite class while attending Hogwarts. My dad gave me a pair of pink earrings which were in the shape of peonies; _victoire de la marne_ peonies to be exact, which my father kept a garden of under my bedroom window. The fact that my father had thought of a gift that combined my interest for Herbology with his affinity for gardening was heartening and meaningful.

"I love them," was all I could say as I went to hug my dad.

I had read all about my namesake flower in one of my Herbology textbooks. Amusingly, their most common use amongst the wizarding world was to crush their flower into a potion which would then be used to repel rodents from eating one's garden, especially hares- go figure.

I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon reading my new book while I kept on my new sweater and had put on my earrings. After the sun had set, I heard a knock at the door. Dad was finishing the pies he had made to bring over for dinner and Remus was lying down in his bedroom. So, I walked over and opened the door to see Mr. Weasley standing on our doorstep.

"Good evening Marnie, happy Christmas," he greeted me as I went to give him a hug.

"Happy Christmas Arthur," my dad said from behind me with pies in his hands before handing one to me.

"Arthur has offered to bring us to the Burrow instead of getting your uncle to do it or have us drive in the icy conditions," dad explained thoughtfully.

"Shall I bring Marnie first?" Mr. Weasley asked while already extending his arm out to me.

"I'll meet you there dad," I answered with a wave.

A moment later I was feeling my stomach squeeze out my naval right before we arrived in the front yard of The Burrow.

"I'll just go ahead and get your father. Go right in Marnie, Molly's waiting for you," Mr. Weasley said as I started walking towards the front door.

Before I even got to the stoop the door swung open and I was greeted by Mrs. Weasley.

"Happy Christmas dearie! Come in, come in. You're bound to catch a cold being out there in just a sweater!" Mrs. Weasley said grabbing me by the arm and pulling me into the house.

The doorway opened into the Weasley's living room which was nice and warm due to the fire and the fact that the oven had probably been on the entire day.

"Marnie!" I heard Ginny say from the bottom of the staircase as she rushed over to hug me.

"Hi Gin, happy Christmas," I greeted the younger girl who was only about an inch shorter than me at this point.

"Orange! None of us ever get an orange sweater!" I heard George say from behind me.

"That would be because it would clash horribly with our hair," Ginny answered matter-of-factly.

"It's because of her eyes," I heard Fred add as he joined us in the living room.

I looked at Mrs. Weasley who just smiled at the remark and turned to go back into the kitchen.

Moments later Mr. Weasley and my father joined us, and we all sat in the living room while we waited for dinner to be ready.

"How's your Christmas been Marnie?" Ginny asked as she made her way to sit down beside me.

I enjoyed her company and always felt slightly bad for her being the only girl amongst the chaotic group of Weasley boys. Although I knew she enjoyed the company of her brothers.

"It's been pretty quiet, but I always enjoy being at home," I answered.

"I can't wait until I go to Hogwarts! I can't believe Ron gets to go next year," Ginny sulked, causing me to look over at Ron who gave a small smile.

"Looking forward to Hogwarts Ron?" I asked the always timid boy.

From the twins' stories, Ron was seemingly as blunt as Fred and always had something to say, but he was always quiet whenever I was around him.

"Yea, I can't wait to be able to use magic," he exclaimed excitedly.

"Think you'll be sorted into Gryffindor?' I asked, wanting to talk a little more after seeing Ron become more animated.

"I expect so. The whole family's been sorted there, don't know why I would be any different," he answered.

I frowned at his remark even though he had answered in a positive manner. It must be even more difficult being the youngest boy of six, than being the only girl of seven.

Just then Mrs. Weasley announced that dinner was being served. We all piled into the dining room and gazed at the delicious spread of food put before us. The table was filled with yams, roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, squash soup, turnips and tea biscuits. In the centre of it all was a very large roast which was triple the size of the goose we had had the previous night.

The whole dinner was chaotic, noisy and crowded in the best possible way. We were all packed around the worn table which was groaning under the weight of all the food. Everyone was chatting excitedly amongst each other, basking in the Christmas spirit. When we eventually finished dinner, Mrs. Weasley quickly cleared everything away and brought out the pies my dad had made plus some figgy pudding and more sugared plums. After dessert we all retired to the living room where we sat in idle chatter, feeling the fullness of our stomachs.

I closed my eyes for a moment and heard a soft melody in the background as Mrs. Weasley passed around the tea pot.

" _Mix a pinch of spice with a dash of charm_

 _And a sprinkling of romance_

 _They're why my cauldron full of hot, strong love_

 _Is worth it, take the chance!"_

"Mum, do we have to listen to this rubbish?" Fred asked from beside me, making me realize that this must be Celestina Warbeck.

The twins had mentioned it being their mother's custom to listen to the witch during the holidays.

"Celestina is a Christmas tradition Fred, you know that dear," Mrs. Weasley answered quietly only causing Fred to sigh.

We stayed sitting in the living room for the next hour before Mr. Weasley offered to return us home after seeing Ginny try to stifle a yawn. We bid everyone farewell and headed towards the front lawn after Mr. Weasley while the rest of their family stood waving in the doorway.

"We'll see you New Year's Eve!" Mrs. Weasley shouted cheerfully.

This had been one of the best Christmas' I had ever had.


	15. A Promise of What's to Come

New Year's Eve came and went much like Christmas had at The Burrow. The twins had taken turns dancing me and Ginny around the sitting room while the grown-ups imbibed in some fire whisky. Mrs. Weasley's face had been in a permanent blush the entire night while Mr. Weasley and my dad talked animatedly with each other, growing louder as the hours passed. I had even roped Ron into sharing a fast-paced dance after seeing him sit on the couch alone, watching us hesitantly. The timid boy always seemed to be left on the outside of the four of us which I always felt bad about. I had long put our rocky beginning behind us and found the younger boy to be cute and in need of some attention. Bill, the twins' eldest brother, had also been present for the occasion which meant I finally got to meet him. He excitedly greeted me as I walked in the door saying I was the only thing the twins' or Ginny ever talked about in their letters. Bill and Charlie then spent most of the evening together catching up, with Bill passing Charlie some fire whisky when his parents were looking the other way. This left Percy who just floated between groups but mostly stuck around Bill who he blasted with frequent questions about work and living away from home.

When midnight tolled me and Ginny animatedly hugged each other and danced around the living room as we rang in the New Year. Moments later however Fred pulled me by my arm and kissed me softly on the cheek which caused me to turn a deep shade of pink. But before I could assess my own reaction to Fred, George followed suit of his brother but only kissed me on the forehead followed by an exaggerated hug. I then looked ruefully at the twins before spotting Ginny laughing in the corner while Ron smiled cheekily. In response I crossed the room towards them and pulled Ron over by the arm before planting a swift kiss on his cheek which in return wiped the smile off his face and caused him to blush. What I hadn't seen was the scathing look Fred had given us or the stifled laughter from Ginny.

Three days later we were back at Hogwarts and starting up another term. Unfortunately, the winter months made the castle consistently cold which drew all of the Gryffindor's to the fire each night. My friends and I would often play Exploding Snap or just huddle under blankets and talk throughout the evening until we retired to our dormitories. This evening was no different as we were all together in a loose circle while Lee and Alicia were comparing their Chocolate Frog collection. I had my own small collection, but I had left it behind at home. So, while the others discussed their more coveted cards, I was admiring Alicia's Beaumont Majoribanks card, who was accredited as being a legendary Herbologist.

"Do you think Professor Dippet taught You Know Who?" I heard Lee ask as he held up the previous headmaster's card.

"I mean You Know Who must have went to school around that time right?" Katie added while the others contemplated the chilling idea.

"Professor Dumbledore is twice the headmaster Dippet could have ever been!" Fred responded confidently while showing the current headmaster's card. "I mean who doesn't realize they are teaching the world's darkest evil wizard?"

"Do you think it could happen again?" Alicia asked quietly. "You Know Who coming back?"

The others all went quiet while I looked between them to observe their reactions. Angelina turned a ghostly colour while Katie shrunk her shoulders down as if to make herself smaller. Lee furtively stared at the card he was holding in his hands without moving his eyes or saying anything. The twins both grimaced and clenched their jaws while Alicia looked down at the floor. I was inclined to believe that this topic had never come up in any of their homes while it had been a conversation several times in mine. My father and uncle remained unconvinced that He Who Must Not Be Named had actually been vanquished and believed he had only disappeared instead. I also knew Remus had been researching what could have happened between him and little Harry Potter all those years ago and almost believed it had something to do with James, or maybe Lily; some spell they must have cast before being murdered. Plus, the fact that my mother was also brought to her undoing the very same day for the sake of amusement and revenge, it was hard to put my family's faith in the belief that it was truly over. The day the war supposedly ended my family experienced too much loss and heartache to expect peace while I knew most other families blindly believed it so not to experience further anxiety or fear.

"He will come back," I said calmly while my friends gasped and looked at me with a mix of anger, fear, and incredulity.

"How can you say that so surely?" Alicia asked in her sheepish voice, not really wanting to believe my words.

I took a deep sigh before explaining myself. I hadn't told the rest of my friends about my mother up until this point.

"On the day the war ended my mother was tortured to insanity by a Death Eater all because she was trying to save her friends from being murdered. In the end they were murdered and her efforts were unsuccessful. And because of this I have a mother unable to recognize her own daughter, and the rest of my family murdered all on the very same day. He Who Must Not Be Named was never found and the ones who took my family away from me don't even know where he is. So that's how I know he's only biding his time and will rise again once he is capable," I finished in a flat tone.

These are all things I had heard my father and uncle discuss several times and I believed in every word. It made absolutely no sense for the powerful wizard to disappear at the height of his reign only to vanish without a trace and be expected to be dead without confirmation. I knew something must have happened because of the Potter's but it only hindered his goal. So, it would only be a matter of time before he rose again and came out of hiding. And when that time came the target on my family's back would once again resurface. Squibs and werewolves were pretty lowly on the blood hierarchy.

My friends were speechless at my words, not able to form coherent responses. The twins already knew about my mother and I figured that their family also believed in the very real possibility of You Know Who coming back. But the others looked unsure. Angelina was frowning at finding out about my mother and I could tell she figured none of her words would be suitable in reply. Lee and Katie looked uncomfortable at both the fact of my mother and the possibility of the dark wizard's return as if the possibility had never dawned on them. Alicia however looked unsure of whether she actually believed me or not. I pitied families who whole heartedly disbelieved in the possibility of You Know Who's return; they were the most vulnerable as they wouldn't see it coming when the signs reappeared.

"That's absolutely horrible Marnie, I'm so sorry," Angelina finally broke the silence before she came over to hug me. I could feel soft tears falling on my sweater while she held onto me for a few long moments. She truly was a great friend and I knew she also believed everything I had said. It also pained me that she took my mother's secret so emotionally, feeling for her friend's situation she had not previously been privy to.

While Ange hugged me, I could also see the twins looking over at us with solemn looks. It was rare that children our age talked of such things outside the hushed conversations within our own homes. It was absolutely terrifying to think that the war of our parent's generation could one day be ours.

When Angelina finally let go and sat down beside me I could see Katie and Lee looking at me with sad expressions.

"I'm sorry Marn," Lee said quietly, unable to look me in the eyes. "That's awful what happened to your mum. It's not right," he continued as I realized he was trying to picture his own life without his own doting mother.

"That's one big secret to keep all on your own," Katie added next with a meaningful look. "You know we're always here for you right?"

I started to feel tears line my eyes while I nodded back to her. I didn't trust the sound of my own voice not to break.

"That's not fair Marnie, what happened to your family," Alicia was the last one to add.

I could tell she wanted to talk more about my other beliefs but the current tone of the group didn't merit further conversation on the matter. They were all reeling in the fact of what had happened to their friend's mother and what I had been living with since then. It was a lot for a bunch of twelve-year-olds to process.

Shortly after Alicia excused herself to go to bed soon followed by Katie. They both hugged me before going up to the dormitory. Lee was the next to retire, giving me a sad smile before heading up the stairs. Not long after Angelina couldn't stifle her own yawns and hesitantly went upstairs. This left me with the twins in a heavy silence.

"Leesh seems unsure about the whole thing don't you think?" George asked, breaking the silence.

"Yea, it's not all that surprising that not everyone agreed. There are a lot of families that refuse to believe in the possibility of another war," I said matter-of-factly.

"It doesn't make it right. You're her friend, she should believe you," Fred said a little angrily.

"Don't get upset with her Fred, we are both products of how we were raised," I said sadly. "Plus one day, unfortunately, she will be proven wrong when I will wish it had been me."

We sat in silence for an unknown amount of time. I could see George's heavy eyes start to sink as he fought off his tiredness.

"Why don't you two head upstairs? It must be past midnight at this point," I said.

"What are you going to do Hare?" Fred asked.

"Probably stay up for a while. Maybe read a book," I said knowing the nightmares were sure to come tonight.

"Why don't you come up with us instead?" Fred asked while George smiled and nodded.

"You sure Lee and Kenneth won't mind?" I asked, not wanting to let on how much the idea of being with the twins relaxed my whirling mind.

"Of course not. Lee wouldn't mind, plus he'll already be snoring. And Kenneth is a heavy sleeper. Plus, we can draw the curtains closed, make a little fort." The twins smiled as I relished in the idea.

"That sounds like it could be good," I said still wanting to appear more relaxed than I felt.

But the twins just smiled knowingly and each grabbed me by an arm. We made our way up the stairs to the boy's second year dorm. Once we entered George threw me a Weasley sweater and pajama pants that seemed much too small for either of them. I quickly went into the washroom to change before coming out to see the twins had somehow pushed their two beds together and closed the curtains except for where the beds met in the middle. I crawled in between them and felt like it was just the three of us, closed off from the rest of the world. I slunk under the blankets and looked at each twin with a smile before getting comfortable.

"Goodnight Marn," George whispered as I could tell he was already falling asleep.

"Goodnight George," I whispered back.

"Goodnight Hare," Fred said as I turned back to look at the more awake twin.

"Wake me if I have a nightmare?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Fred reassured as he rubbed his hand over my arm.

The soothing motion started to lull me to sleep as I closed my eyes.

"Goodnight Fred," was the last thing I whispered before falling asleep.

The next thing I knew I was walking in between the twins on our way down to the Great Hall.

"Ready for this?" George asked in an unfamiliar voice.

Before I could look over at him or enquire what _this_ was, I saw a younger girl running up to us from the bottom of the stairs. The girl looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place her.

"Gideon!" the younger girl shouted as she reached us.

I looked over to George only to see an older boy who was not my best friend, although he had similar red hair.

"Good thinking getting the brothers to come along," the girl smiled at me before turning back to head towards a group of about ten people waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.

I looked between the faces within the group and automatically pulled out a man who looked just like my father along with a younger looking Remus. More closely I realized that James, Lily, Alice, and Frank were also amongst the waiting group. As I continued to look, I spotted an unfamiliar face beside James who was blatantly staring at me while I felt my cheeks start to get warm. But before I could do anything else the young girl I still couldn't place started talking to me while the others filed out of the castle.

As I started to follow the others, the entrance of the castle became hazy while I felt my vision start to cloud. Moments later my surroundings came into focus and I saw Fred and George in a heated battle surrounded by five Death Eaters. I started calling out to them as I feared for their safety. I was however marveling at how two twelve-year-olds could hold off that many skilled wizards for that long before I saw a green curse hit George. I cried out in horror as I saw the lifeless eyes of my best friend looking back at me. I started running, having to find Fred in the thick of battle but by the time I reached the group the Death Eaters were gone and Fred laid at my feet without breathing. I sank down to my knees and cried out in anguish. How could I have let this happen!? It was too much to bear. But before I could think of anything else, I felt a set of hands on my shoulders willing me to come with them.

"Lena, we have to go," the voice said.

"But they are my best friends!" I yelled back defiantly.

"It's a nightmare Marnie," I heard the voice say back.

"You think I don't know that?" I asked incredulously before feeling the set of hands start to shake me.

"Wake-up!" it yelled before my surroundings started to blur once more and I was now looking into Fred's face with tears in my eyes.

Without thinking I grabbed onto him and hugged him fiercely after just having watched him murdered in my dream. He let me hold him while he ran his fingers through my hair.

"It's okay now Hare," he whispered as I softly cried into his shoulder.

Holding onto my best friend in that moment made the reality of an eventual war almost paralyzing. How would I ever be able to cope with losing my best friends or family like my dad and uncle had? No wonder they had shut themselves away from the world, it must have been blindingly difficult to move forward after the day they lost everything. It had been too much; I couldn't live through that and want to survive.

After several moments of holding me Fred gently put me back onto my pillow and continued to stroke my hair as I fell back into a dreamless sleep. Surprisingly I didn't open my eyes until the next morning's sun coaxed me awake. I felt the weight of someone's arm on my stomach as I rolled over to hear a soft snoring. I opened my eyes and saw Fred's sleeping figure draping his arm over me. I smiled as I stared at him for a few moments before watching him start moving around. He then opened his eyes and looked around to notice me awake. With a smile he removed his arm, but not before mussing my already wild hair.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked with a hint of worry in his eyes.

I frowned a little before answering. Fuzzy details were coming back from my dream, but I could only really remember screaming as I knelt down over the bodies of my two best friends.

"Just glad I was here," I answered which made Fred smile in return.

I could tell it was later than we usually slept in due to the brighter sun. But before I could say anything a loud snore cut me off. I turned back over to see George sound asleep with the blankets tucked up around him. He continued to emit a tirade of snores while I giggled and Fred passed me a pillow. We then both started beating him with our pillows until moments later he was jolted awake.

"Oi, I'm sleeping here," he said as he pulled the blankets up over his head.

"Yea well we're not and we're starving," I answered with a laugh as my stomach growled in agreeance.

"Yea well it's hard trying to sleep with you kicking me every five minutes," George added grumpily.

I then stood up on the beds and started jumping in-between the twins while they dodged my landings. They were cursing and laughing at the same time as I coerced them out of bed.

"Oi, some of us are still sleeping!" I heard Lee grumpily exclaim from outside the curtains.

We all stopped for a moment before sharing mischievous grins. The three of us then hurried out of our enclosure and ran for Lee's bed where we all jumped around while Lee unsuccessfully tried to swat us away. Thankfully Kenneth was an early riser and had already gone down for breakfast. After a few moments Lee successfully pushed us off the bed and the boys made their way to get ready. In the meantime, I quickly went to my own dorm to change before heading back down to the common room to wait. The girls were probably already waiting for us in the Great Hall since they hadn't been upstairs. Minutes later we headed downstairs, but Lee refused to talk to us. George and Fred however had their arms looped through mine as we walked to breakfast with Lee grumpily trailing behind. I hadn't been looking forward to having the talk with my friends like I had last night, but I knew it had been inevitable. Plus, the following dreams had been unbearable but with the twins at my side it had almost been tolerable.

We entered the Great Hall and were met with sleepy smiles from the girls. Alicia looked slightly awkward, but I just smiled at her which she gratefully returned. I didn't fault her for having her own convictions, I just didn't envy the day which I believed would inevitably come to pass. I just hoped for my friend's sake that she was prepared enough to be able to survive and protect herself. But I figured I would always be around to protect her as well, along with all my other friends since this is what makes fighting worth it. To stand with your friends against an impossible foe with confidence because they are worth it.


	16. Herbology Tips

Springtime at Hogwarts was always damp and dreary, despite the grandeur of it all. This was because the rain was constantly pouring down, having replaced the Christmas-like snow. On this particular rainy day my friends and I were going between classes in long sweaters under our cloaks in an attempt to try and stay warm. However, by the time we made it to the greenhouses for Herbology we were trying to shake off the dripping water in our hair to maintain some ounce of dryness since we were already chilled to the bone. Even though I was used to the soaking wetness which accompanied British springtime, at home I always had the option of staying indoors.

"Today we will be going out to catch some leaping toadstools," Professor Sprout announced once we all gathered in the greenhouse, much to everyone's dissatisfaction.

I could hear my friends sigh at the promise of spending the afternoon out in the foggy fields being pelted by rain. I knew however that this was the most opportune time to catch the creatures since they preferred to frolic in the rain.

"Do try to look unhappy," I heard Ange say from beside me as she witnessed my smile.

"But I've only ever read about them! They're very useful in all sorts of potions," I relayed as I started to get excited over my knowledge of the plant-based creatures.

"I'm going to stop you right there," Fred said from behind me as we collected our pails and gloves from the racks. "You are the only one here who actually wants to do this and it only makes it worse when you start firing off random tips of knowledge which I will never need to know in the foreseeable future," he continued while I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Alright students, I require that you collect a dozen toadstools before being able to come back to the greenhouse," Professor Sprout ordered while Ange automatically looped my arm.

"I'm with Marnie! She'll have us out of there in no time," she said as she started pulling me towards the brush where they were known to be found.

"I guess my facts are useful," I said slyly over my shoulder as Fred pouted back at me.

Once we entered the brush I pulled Ange over to the forest's edge where I knew we would be able to head them off as they came out. Sure enough as soon as we approached we saw three toadstools jumping merrily towards us while I could see the other students scrounging the sparing few which were already out in the open. Angelina and I divided our efforts as we each went after a toadstool. Before long we had collected ten of them and were prowling around for our last two. Just then I spotted some at the edge of the tree line still lurking in the shadows. I pointed to where I had spotted them while Ange nervously nodded her head. We circled around to corner the creatures before each diving to catch them. I easily caught mine while I looked to see Ange stuffing hers into our bucket. Having been successful in catching our dozen I started to walk over to her in triumph before I stopped in my tracks. It felt as if someone was staring at me from behind, so I turned around to survey the dark and gloomy forest. I wasn't able to notice any movement but even still, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was like a pair of eyes were piercing into me.

"Marn, are you okay?" I was startled at the sound of Angelina's voice.

I didn't move for a moment since I was still trying to locate the source which I almost felt was inching closer.

"Come on Marnie," Angelina said more urgently. "Let's get out of here."

I could hear the trembling in her voice as she too looked into the Forbidden Forest.

Looking over my shoulder one more time I returned to the clearing with my friend without finding the source of the staring. It was unnerving how still everything had been for somewhere so full of creatures. The wind had even stopped as I only heard and felt the movement of my own breath. Only another reason not to indulge the twins in venturing out here.

We walked back to the greenhouses in silence. When we had passed the twins, who were covered in mud, it only looked like they had about four toadstools.

"What were you looking at Marnie?" Angelina asked after we had given our toadstools to Professor Sprout who was extremely pleased in our efficiency.

"Didn't you feel it?" I asked.

"No, what are you talking about?" she asked worriedly.

"The eyes. It felt like someone was staring right at me," I explained. "It was strange though, it was like I could actually feel it but no one was there. Or at least no one that I could see."

"There was no one there Marnie, not except for the leaping toadstools," Ange said in an anxious tone.

"Yea I guess you're right Ange," wanting to placate my friend. "It was nothing."

We then waited for twenty more minutes before the rest of the class filed in, sopping wet.

The rest of our friends looked extremely annoyed as they handed over their buckets.

"You win Hare," Fred said as I looked at him curiously. "Your facts are not useless, especially if it gets me out of the rain," he said as I laughed.

When we later walked back to the castle I was still mulling over the occurrence in the forest, or at least what I felt had happened. I figured it was best if I didn't tell the twins who would only worry over what was potentially nothing, especially since Angelina hadn't seen anything. I guess it was just the eeriness of the forest and one of the many reasons not to enter.

XXX

The sogginess of spring eventually dissipated allowing us to actually venture outside without catching a cold. I could feel the promise of summer, and with it the anxiety of exams. Last year I had proven even to myself how adept I was at my studies. I had passed all of my classes with Outstanding's in Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration and Astronomy while receiving Exceeds Expectations in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I had only gotten an Acceptable in History of Magic which I never felt too sorry over. Now I wasn't as anxious for the exams as last year which meant I didn't spend every literal minute in the library. Plus, my friends were less than enthusiastic to let me venture there alone after last year's mishap. So, it was much to the twin's relief that I spent a lot of my nights in the common room, opting to study there instead. I was currently charting out a star map while Lee and Fred played wizard's chess. The girls were finishing their Potion's paper while George sat down across from me.

"I'm not lending you my chart," I told him without looking up.

"You insult my pure intentions Marnie," George answered as he sat down.

"What's your angle then?" I asked suspiciously, knowing the twins never wanted to sit with me while I did homework.

"Just to sit with my best friend is all," he answered nonchalantly as I looked up at him and smiled.

"I sometimes forget you have the ability to sit still for a moment," I told him while looking over to Fred. "Your brother on the other hand does not have that skill."

George chuckled and pulled out a book from his rucksack before opening it up.

"That's not a required text," I said while I tried to make out the unfamiliar cover.

"No, it's a Charms book I found on one of our many adventures to the library," he said sarcastically while I laughed.

Since I did actually like going to the library and the twins didn't like to leave me alone, they ended up tagging along most of the time.

"What's it about?" I asked curiously.

"Trick charms. They're not curses or anything, just hexes not ordinarily taught in school," he answered as I became more curious.

"Look at this one for example, the bat bogey hex. I think the name is pretty self-explanatory," he said as he passed over the book.

The page did indeed have illustrations depicting an individual with full-grown bats flying out of their nostrils.

"This is brilliant!" I exclaimed while George grinned in return. " But I don't envy the poor chap you try this out on," I added while slightly shuddering.

"I'm sure you'll be there when I do," he answered as I smiled before returning to my chart.

We sat there in amicable silence for the next hour before our friends one-by-one went off to bed. Before long it was just the two of us as Fred eventually waved at us from the staircase.

"You know, sometimes I like it just the two of us," I said as I gathered my things into my rucksack to carry upstairs.

"You know, I do too," he answered warmly.

I then patted him on the shoulder and headed to bed. George and I both knew we were in a trio-package. Our lives had become all intertwined which didn't really function without the other two being by our sides. But it was nice to enjoy each other's company once in a while, as I assumed it would be the same with Fred. Fred and I had just never been alone together which I now found slightly strange. George had already escorted me some nights to the library while Fred would opt to go back to the common room instead. I guess Fred and I had just never been in a situation yet where George would opt to do something different. But I'm sure when the time came we would be just as amicable as George and I while just enjoying the singular company.

XXX

Exam week brought about the same air of panic as it seemed to every year. A fifth year Ravenclaw named Claire Booth ended up in the hospital wing after she left wailing from the library one night. I also heard of a Slytherin sixth-year passing out after forgetting to attend four consecutive meals in the Great Hall. They apparently found him in the back of the Restricted Section.

"Lee! You're going to fall into your food," Katie yelled as Lee's head nodded forward towards his dinner plate.

"How long were you up last night writing that History paper?" I asked as he shook his head in an attempt to wake himself up.

"How is it possible to write two and a half feet on Sardinian sorcerers? It's bloody impossible!" Lee ranted.

"Well you could have started a week ago which would have kept you from staying up late last night," I replied cheekily.

"Shut it Marnie," he replied while George elbowed him.

"Oi, keep it friendly Jordan," Fred said cautiously.

"Alright, alright. Don't jab me in the ribs," Lee said as he looked between the twins.

I just shook my head knowing the twins never let Lee get away much with his sarcasm when it was directed at me; which made it difficult since that was one of his main traits. I never even minded since I usually just handed it back to him.

A moment later someone went fleeing from the Great Hall wailing in hysterics.

"There goes another one," Katie said non-chalantly as the girl was followed out by some prefects and Professor Sprout, probably to escort her to the hospital wing.

"Hey Marnie," Angelina cut in after we had all turned back to our meals. "I was hoping I could invite you over this summer?" she inquired with a smile.

"That sounds wonderful Ange," I said before hesitating. "I would just have to ask my father first."

"Oh, of course Marn," she replied genuinely. "But my parents are happy to come get you and also meet with your father beforehand."

I smiled back at her as I started to get excited over the prospect of spending some time in the city outside of the hospital.

"That sounds great Ange," I exclaimed.

"I've already been exchanging a few letters with my parents and they are fine with the whole thing," she explained.

"I'll send a letter tomorrow and tell my father, I'm sure he'll be alright with it," I told her.

I knew my father would be hesitant about the idea but I also knew he would allow me to visit one of my friends, especially Ange. I had already told him all about her, plus meeting her parents would provide some needed assurance.

"Why don't we all head up to the common room before Lee wears his food?" Alicia suggested as Lee started to nod off again.

The twins grabbed Lee from either side and hauled him up to their dormitory. The girls and I sat near the fire while we waited for George and Fred to return.

"Well sleeping beauty is back in his chamber," Fred said as the twins joined us.

"I never figured exams could be so cutthroat," Alicia said worriedly.

"Yea, is it really that horrible in OWL year?" Ange asked.

"Charlie said it wasn't that bad but you have to stay on top of your studies," George said calmly.

"But Charlie is a bright kid, even if he plays it down a bit. In his fifth year he got eight OWLs, I'm sure he'll get at least the same this year for his NEWTs," Fred added.

"Good thing we won't have to worry about it for a few years yet," Katie said.

"Yea, our exams are enough as it is," I added with a sigh.

"I think I'm going to call it a night," Ange said as all of us agreed.

The four of us then headed upstairs while the twins headed back towards the boys dorm. All of our trunks were mostly packed, including mine as I was slowly learning not to leave packing until the last minute. After we were all settled in bed a few minutes later the others soon after fell asleep. I listened to their rhythmic breathing as I soon found myself drifting off into an easy sleep, thinking of exploring London and further branching out from the little cottage on the hill.


	17. Talk of Harry

As I stepped off the train with the twins following close behind, I tried not to get sucked in by the crowd. Students were rushing around with their heavy trunks trying to locate their parents, while parents in return bustled around; several with younger children in tow.

"Look there's mum," George pointed straight ahead, looking past several other families.

Seeing our target, I followed the twins closely before I eventually saw three red heads standing in a bunch along with my father. When we got close enough I ran up to him and gave him a big hug while he planted a kiss on my forehead.

"How's my girl?" dad asked as I smiled up at him.

"I was actually hoping you could meet my friend and her family?" I asked.

I had already told my father about Angelina's invitation which he had tentatively agreed to.

"Of course I'll meet your friends Marnie," he replied with a smile.

"Marnie, let me have a look at you," I heard Mrs. Weasley call from behind me.

I turned around as the older woman was already making her way to pull me into an embrace.

"It's good to see you Mrs. Weasley," I answered as she pulled me in.

"Always so skinny," she replied as she sized me up.

"Mum, she eats more than we do," George answered while I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I do believe that," my father added with a grin.

Before I could respond I heard my name being called out. I turned around to see Angelina and who I assumed were her parents approaching us.

"Ah, you must be Angelina's parents," my dad said as he watched the family approaching. "I'm Joss O'Hara, Marnie's father. It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard so much about your daughter through Marnie's letters," my father greeted as he shook hands with both of Ange's parents.

"It's so wonderful to meet you as well, I'm Pauline Johnson and this is my husband Heath. Our Angelina has also told us so much about Marnie," Angelina's mum introduced herself.

"It's good to meet you Joss," Mr. Johnson said as he shook my father's hand.

"As I'm sure Marnie has already told you, we would love to invite your daughter over during the summer, possibly for a stay-over? We understand you live farther out in the countryside, but my husband and I would be more than happy to come collect Marnie and drop her off via apparition. Or have her come via the floo network, whichever is better suited for you," Mrs. Johnson finished as they both looked at my dad.

"I would consent to having our fireplace connect to the floo for a night while Marnie is over at your place. We've had it connected before," my father responded.

"That settles it then," Mr. Johnson said with a smile. "Why don't we have Marnie over next Thursday if that works with your schedule? It's the end of our holiday from work that week and we don't yet have anything planned. We definitely wouldn't mind spending it touring Marnie around London."

"Yea I suppose next Thursday would be fine with us. I'll make sure to have the floo set up for that day and send you and owl to confirm," my dad answered while Ange and I beamed at each other.

I gave her a hug before our families parted ways. We then headed out of King's Cross with the Weasley's before heading to my uncle's car.

"We'll be seeing you shortly dear!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed while we bid the red-headed family good-bye.

XXX

Over the following week I waited in anticipation for going to visit Angelina. I knew my father was nervous about it, especially since he remained silent on the topic, but I was too excited to want to back out.

On Thursday afternoon I was slinging an overnight bag over my shoulder while my dad guided me down the stairs.

"Now remember, the floo network will be open all night if you need to return," my dad reminded me for the tenth time.

"Yes, I remember," I replied.

"And Mr. Johnson has told me you are free to use their owl Maximillian if you need to contact me for anything," my father continued.

"Yes, I'm aware," I answered.

"And do not go anywhere in London unaccompanied by Mr. or Mrs. Johnson," my father added sternly.

We were in front of the fireplace and I looked up at my dad.

"I know dad, I promise to be safe and not venture off," I assured.

"I know I don't make this easy," my dad sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"You're allowed to worry, you're my dad," I answered before giving him a hug.

I then stepped into the hearth and grabbed some powder from the cup my dad was holding out.

"Now, very clearly," my dad ordered.

"156 Patmos Road!" I yelled as I threw the powder down causing a flurry of ash.

All of a sudden, I was sliding down and catching glimpses of other exits, but never long enough to make out what I had seen. Moments later I shot out in an unfamiliar house to see Angelina sitting on the couch.

"You made it!" she exclaimed as she came over to help me out.

"That was brilliant!" I said as I looked back at the fireplace I had just exited from.

"Was that your first time?" Ange asked inquisitively.

"Yea, dad can't travel in the floo network," I answered as Ange nodded in understanding.

"Marnie, so glad you made it!" Mrs. Johnson stated as she walked into the room followed by her husband.

"Why don't you help Marnie up to your room to drop off her things before we head out?" Mr. Johnson asked as Ange took my hand and led me out of the room. At the end of the hallway, near the front door was a staircase which we started to climb. Once we reached the top, Ange's room was the second door on the left. There was a cot already set up beside the bed which is where I set down my bag.

"Ready to go?" Ange asked excitedly.

"Of course!" I exclaimed as we returned downstairs.

We left the house and side-apparated to the Thames River where we walked up to the Westminster Bridge. Angelina and I followed her parents as we gazed out along the river and across to the other side which featured the heart of London. As we followed Ange's parents, I noticed they walked while amicably chatting and holding hands. The sight made me sad as I had never seen a married couple outside of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and although I knew they loved each other, they didn't typically show their affection outright like this.

We eventually crossed over the Thames where I was able to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I appreciated the Johnson's taking me to the tourist spots since I had never seen London like this before, even though I'm sure they had seen it hundreds of times.

We then headed away from Westminster up towards Mayfair where the Johnson's took me to one of their favourite restaurants. I ordered the roast dinner along with Mrs. Johnson while Angelina and her father ordered the shepherd's pie. We were even allowed to order dessert which ended up being the trifle since it came as a house recommendation.

Before heading back to Ange's house, we walked through Trafalgar Square and up along the streets of the theater district before heading back towards the Thames. Once we came to the water again, we stopped to see the city lights reflect off its surface. The nighttime air buzzed with excitement along with the constant bustling which could only be referred to as the pulse of the city.

"Ready to head back girls?" Mrs. Johnson asked as we nodded.

Ange held onto her father while I grabbed Mrs. Johnson's outstretched hand. Moments later we were in front of their home and walked up the footpath. It was later in the evening so Ange and I decided to go up to her room to partake in sleepover-like activities. Once upstairs, we changed into our sleep clothes before we sat on Ange's bed.

"Crazy to be done our second year isn't it?" Ange asked as I looked over her small book collection on the shelf above her bed.

"Seems like I waited for so long to go there only for it to fly by," I commented as I turned my attention back to her.

"Are you going to see the twins this summer?" she asked.

"Yea, I think we're going there next week for dinner," I answered with a smile.

"That sounds nice, I would love it if one day I could go there," she smiled.

"I'm sure they would love to have you Ange, just ask. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are very friendly and would more than likely extend an invitation to you," I responded.

"I don't know how you keep up with them," Ange responded earnestly.

"What do you mean?" I asked not understanding her comment.

"I love the twins, and I love that we are all friends, but they are so high energy and you just match them tit for tat. Some days I just retreat to our dorm because they just keep going and I'm already tired. But you always follow them, scheme with them, venture off with them. Sometimes I wish I could just keep up," she explained while I mulled over what she was saying.

"Yea well someone has to reel us in," I answered with a smile. "Lee definitely won't do it and Leesh and Katie aren't always there so that leaves you to be the voice of reason."

"That is true," she responded. "But I just wish I was a little more adventurous."

"Ange you're a Gryffindor! You are made for adventure. Plus, you're a great chaser who made the team second year, and you never back down from a challenge," I went on.

"You still don't believe you're meant for Gryffindor do you Marn?" she asked.

"I don't know, it just seems so obvious for the rest of you while I'm being locked in closets, thrown down staircases and never have enough bravery to stand up for myself," I responded quietly.

"Marnie, you are brave. I honestly don't know what I would do if Flint was always targeting me. And you do stand up to him, that's why he brings his cronies along. Plus, like I said before, bravery isn't always so blatant. You're the one who told us about You Know Who when I hadn't ever heard anyone talk as candid as you did, even my parents. You're not afraid to state your beliefs or do what you think is best and for that you may be the bravest out of all of us," she went on as I stayed silent.

"I just don't see what you and the twins see. Plus, the Sorting Hat went on about something similar after deciding I shouldn't be sorted into Hufflepuff," I answered.

"The hat talked to you?" Ange asked.

"Yea, that's why it took so long," I replied.

"It honestly was just a few moments, probably less than a minute," she explained.

It had seemed a lot longer than less than a minute.

"What did it say?" she asked curiously.

"It talked about honing my bravery and that I will need it to survive in the future," I replied.

"Well isn't that ominous," Ange responded with her brow furrowed. "But seriously Marnie, you are brave and I'm sure in time you will come to see that," she finished with a smile.

"Want to go through the new Broomz magazine I just got, they're featuring the Nimbus 2000!" she exclaimed excitedly after it seemed we needed a subject change from all the serious talk.

I just shook my head while moving closer to her so we could both read the magazine more easily.

XXX

Two weeks after my visit with Ange the two of us were headed over to The Burrow to spend the day with the twins. On my previous visit I had asked the twins' about inviting Angelina over and they had instantly agreed.

It was a scorching July day and we had both come prepared with our bathing suits. Mr. Johnson apparated both of us to The Burrow and promised to return after dinner. As we approached the front door, we were greeted by Ginny who had obviously been awaiting our arrival.

"Oo you're even prettier than George described," were the first things out of the younger girl's mouth which made Ange's face turn bright red.

"Honestly Ginevra, I don't know where you get your loose tongue," Mrs. Weasley came into the doorway as she ushered both of us inside.

"It's lovely to meet you Angelina, the twins have told me so much about you," she smiled as Ange continued to blush.

"It's nice to meet you as well Mrs. Weasley," Ange responded as we entered the kitchen. "The boys are already by the pond if you want to head out," Mrs. Weasley said as she opened the back door for us.

Ange and I then followed Ginny down the back hill towards the pond where we could see five boys swimming about in the pond.

"Hey Hare! Hey Ange!" Fred called out as we approached the dock.

We took off our covers and jumped straight into the water. We had expertly come ready to go swimming and had instead brought a change of clothes for later. I could see the twins look at Angelina in her two-piece bathing suit while I self-consciously looked down at my one-piece. It was odd to see the boys look at Ange like they were and even worse to compare it to how they always looked at me. These were my friends and I never wanted them to look at me like anything else anyways.

Ginny soon joined us as we all swam around.

"Want to see who can swim to the other end and back the quickest?" Fred asked with a grin.

"Pretty sure it won't be you mate," George responded which made Fred scowl.

"Alright, you're on," Ange responded confidently.

Six of us lined up as Ginny stayed to judge and Percy decided to bask in the sun a while.

"On your mark, get set, GO!" Ginny shouted as we all took off.

We were all pretty even in the beginning but soon Ange and Charlie were taking over the twins who struggled to keep up. I, unfortunately being small and un-athletic, soon fell to the end. Charlie easily ended up surpassing the group and made it back first, closely followed by Ange. The twins fought to catch up but were passed by Ron who finished for third. When the twins finally finished, they took their defeat in stride and started splashing the others. I decided to forfeit the race altogether and stay on the other side away from the brutal attack.

Ginny, who had smartly gotten out of the pond, walked over to the other side. She sat down and put her feet in while I waded in the shallows.

"Did you hear Charlie is moving away to Romania?" Ginny asked.

"Yea, the twins wrote to me about it," I responded while gauging the girl's reaction. "It must be tough seeing another one of your brother's leave."

"Yea, it's strange to think that I haven't even started at Hogwarts but Bill and Charlie have already gone through it and are now going out and moving away," she said sadly.

"Yea, I was just talking about something similar with Angelina the other day. It's like we all agonizingly await to attend Hogwarts but now two years have already gone by," I replied.

"Mum's not too happy with Charlie that he's off working with dragons," Ginny added.

"Yea, I'm not that surprised. I don't think my father would ever allow me to do that," I replied.

"Well, it's not like you really need permission though do you? I mean mum would have revoked it with both Bill and Charlie if she could have. It's ultimately up to us what we do in the end," I paused at Ginny's words as I had never contemplated any dangerous or unconventional jobs like the two older Weasley's had.

But before I could give it much more thought Ange swam over and joined us.

"Fred and George are idiots," was all she said while Ginny and I grinned.

"I would have hoped you would have learned that by now Ange," I replied with a smirk as she stuck her tongue out at me.

Just then Mrs. Weasley called us into the house to wash up and change for supper.

When we all came downstairs from changing Ginny sat between Ange and I while Ron sat on my other side and George sat beside Ange.

"Looking forward to school Ron?" I asked after not having had much opportunity earlier in the day to ask.

"Yea, I can't believe it's finally my turn to go. I should be receiving my letter any day now," he finished with a proud smile.

"But Ronniekins, what if that letter never comes? Maybe they've met their redhead quota for the school," Fred jabbed while I glared back at him.

"Yea well, I guess I can take Charlie's place then can't I?" Ron responded indignantly.

"Don't worry yourself with them Ron, they're just being idiots," I responded as Ron turned back and smiled at me.

"I don't know how the twins ever convinced you to be friends with them Marnie, you're too good to be with the likes of them," Ron said as Fred and George outwardly objected from across the table.

"Pipe down you two," Mrs. Weasley chastised as the twins both glared at their younger brother.

"Oh, well I'm the only one who can keep them in check you see," I said while grinning at the twins.

"You'd like to think so Hare," was all Fred said in return.

I then leaned down to whisper to Ron.

"I'll try to keep them out of your hair," I told him while he returned a sheepish grin.

"Thanks Marnie," Ron replied before we both returned to eating.

No one besides Ron had more on their plate than I did and we both successfully finished our fill.

After dinner there was a rap at the door.

"Hope I'm not interrupting, you must be Arthur Weasley," I heard Mr. Johnson say from the front door.

Ange and I collected our things and met her dad out on the landing.

"Time to go Marnie?" Mr. Johnson asked as I nodded.

"I'll be back for my daughter in a moment," Mr. Johnson added as Mr. Weasley nodded.

I waved at everyone who were all congregated out the front door. However, in a moment I was no longer looking at The Burrow and was instead looking at my cottage. I walked towards the door as I waved Mr. Johnson good-bye. He smiled before he disappeared with a pop back to The Burrow to collect Angelina.

XXX

July 31st posed to be a strange day in my house. It was Harry Potter's birthday and as a sort of tradition dad, Remus and I would all head out to Godric's Hollow to pay our respects to James and Lily. We knew Harry was being raised by Lily's sister Petunia who had nothing to do with the magical world, and by extension, us.

Although my father hadn't attended Hogwarts or been a part of Remus and James' tight knit childhood group of friends, the men had grown very close when they all joined the Order. As well, as boys, Remus and the others had known my mother quite well and my mum by extension had been Harry's god-mum. Lily chose her best friend while James had chosen his, this unfortunately left Harry unable to be raised by my father and Remus like I had. Very few people knew of Harry's godparents and both of their ill-fates, and I often wondered where this left little Harry.

Of course, I didn't really have any memories of the black-haired baby, save for one. I remember the summer before that fateful Halloween where it had been too hot to even think. Lily and James were over at our cottage and we were all huddled by the pond. I remember the Potter's along with Remus and my parents all being there as Harry and I both went around in the water with our parents. Harry had a little turtle floaty while I remember sitting on a giraffe.

The memory is hazy, and I don't know if I remember everyone who was there but I do remember Lily taking me on a ride while my mum swapped to take Harry.

"I'll tell you a secret Little Badger," I can hear Lily whispering to me. "We want to have a little girl, just like you," she finished as I beamed up at her.

"Just like me Aunt Lily," I repeated back at her while she smiled warmly.

Just then there's a flurry of splashing on my back which makes me squeal. I turn around to see one-year-old Harry fluttering his arms around since mum has brought him to see me.

"Arry!" I yell playfully at him.

I bend over once he has stopped flailing while he flashes a wide grin at me. I bend down very close to his little ear.

"We're going to have a little sister, you and me," I say before the memory cuts out.

Remus and dad talk of Harry often, but I have never brought up my precious memory.

We had just come back from visiting my aunt and uncle's graves and I had the same hollow feeling I felt every year. I know I didn't remember much of them, but I know they had loved me like their own and I was angry that I never got any more memories with them or had been able to grow up with Harry. I didn't even know my own god-brother.

We were sitting around the coffee table back at the cottage while dad made some tea. The three of us were quiet as I saw the same pained looks my dad and uncle always got.

"So, I guess our Harry will be starting at Hogwarts this year," Remus started.

"You'll look for him won't you Marnie?" dad asked while I tried to give him a reassuring look.

"Of course I'll find him," I answered. "But honestly, I don't think it'll be difficult locating _The Boy Who Lived_ ," I said as I grimaced at the name the wizarding world had bestowed onto him.

"He must look like James with that mop of black hair he had," Remus mused as I smiled.

"But those big green eyes of his, those were Lily's" my father added.

I had heard them ruminate about Harry before, having never been able to get in touch with Petunia. We had no pictures or status reports about how he had faired throughout his childhood without parents. Plus, to hold so much on his shoulders already must have made it difficult for him to adjust to a normal life.

I was nervously excited to see the boy who had once been raised to be practically my brother, but I didn't know what to expect. I had spent my childhood hearing his praises from Remus and dad while he probably hadn't heard anything about me. Plus, he wouldn't remember me after being so young. I didn't know how I should approach the situation or if he would even want to know about the family he had who hadn't been able to ever reach him.

Dad and Remus had tried many times but since Petunia and her husband were muggles, the owl post hadn't been an option. Dad was privy to the ways of the muggle post but the hundreds of letters we sent always went unanswered and apparently Professor Dumbledore had deemed it unauthorized to actually visit the muggle house.

I was only a month away from meeting Harry and had already deemed it necessary to introduce myself to the boy and explain as much as I could to him while at least being his friend, if he'd have me.

The three of us then all sat around in a sad quiet sipping our tea and thinking of Harry.


	18. A Brother

A month later I was sitting at the Hogwarts feast trying not to stare at the dark-haired boy with the scar on his forehead waiting to be sorted. I felt uneasy about meeting Harry all summer, which only heightened as September neared. Now, as I finally saw him, I had no idea how to actually introduce myself.

Earlier at King's Cross, before we had even gotten on the train, the twins had come rushing over, telling us they had seen him. My uncle and dad were standing a few feet away from the Weasley's, since Remus hadn't wanted to be noticed, when we heard their news. In response the three of us all turned to look at each other as I felt my stomach begin to knot. I knew Remus had appeared at the terminal this year because he had wanted to catch a glimpse of the boy but we had no such luck. And when I boarded the train the twins led me to where they already knew our friends to be which had stopped me from looking for Harry myself.

Now I was watching him nervously as I already knew the boy to be him. Despite not being able to actually see the iconic scar, his messy hair and angular face instantly gave him away as James' son. When he was finally called by Professor McGonagall, the room broke out into a multitude of hushed conversations. I watched as the older witch put the ratty hat over the young boy's head and waited with bated breath as the seconds rolled by. So, the hat was talking to him like it had me… I wonder what houses the hat was contemplating for him.

After about what seemed like over a minute the quiet of the Great Hall was interrupted by the shouting of the hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I instantly rose to my feet and clapped at the great fortune of Harry joining my house. I could also hear the twins yelling beside me that ' _we got Potter'._ Once he was sorted, I watched as he approached our table and sat beside a girl with bushy brown hair who had already been sorted into our house. But before he sat down, we locked eyes for a moment. I felt the pressure in my stomach but forced it back down as I smiled at him. Hesitantly he returned the smile before being lost behind the mane of hair.

We waited another ten minutes to see Ron be sorted into Gryffindor as well. I also rose to my feet and met Ron's eyes who I noticed blushed as he sheepishly waved me back and sat down across from Harry. I wonder if they had already met on the train.

As the food magically appeared I looked over to see Ron's eyes light up in astonishment. I couldn't really see Harry since we were sitting on the same side and the girl's hair continued to block my view.

After the food eventually cleared and Dumbledore finished his speech, I walked over to where Neville was sitting.

"And you said you would never be sorted into Gryffindor," I remarked towards him.

He turned around with a sheepish grin and gave me a small smile. I gave him a big hug in return before whispering in his ear.

"Don't doubt yourself Neville, the hat doesn't make mistakes," I said as I felt him tighten the embrace.

"Oh, the password is 'golden snitch'," I added with a devilish grin before I noticed Ron turn to look at me in confusion.

"And what's the password good for?" Ron asked while I only continued to smile innocently.

"To tell the fat lady of course," I answered.

"What are you going on about?" Ron replied, not understanding my words just as I hadn't when it had been Charlie and me two years back.

"I guess you'll just have to figure that out," I said with a wink before returning to my friends.

"You're wicked you know that Hare?" Fred said with a smile.

"Yea, well it's my turn to flip the tables. I didn't know what anyone was talking about when it was me," I answered.

"Yea, but at least we told you," George responded.

"Are you saying I should go back and tell them?" I asked.

"Of course not!" they both answered as I laughed.

Our group of friends started to walk away towards the Gryffindor common room, not knowingly leaving Neville, Ron and Harry in the Great Hall.

"Who is that girl?" Harry asked curiously.

"That's the girl I was telling you about, that's Marnie. She's really great; I've known her for years," Ron embellished slightly. "Still don't know why she hangs out with the twins though," he continued shaking his head.

"How do you know Marnie, Neville?" Ron turned to the new boy and asked.

"Oh, my gran knows her father," Neville mumbled, not being able to give the whole truth.

"Oh, okay," Ron answered, taking the boy's answer at face value.

"She seems familiar," Harry said as the boys started to follow the prefect, which was also another one of Ron's brothers.

"Well I'm sure you'll get to know her, she said she's going to keep an eye out for me," Ron answered with a grin.

From the train ride with Ron, Harry had gathered that Ron had a crush on this Marnie girl. And from their brief interactions she seemed nice enough and Harry had noticed her staring worriedly at him while waiting to be sorted.

"She told me the same thing," Neville added to Ron's comment with a smile which caused Ron to scowl.

Harry wondered if somehow this girl was related to his past which was seeming to be one big unknown. He then made it his goal to find out.

XXX

It was nearing the end of the first week of classes and Marnie still hadn't had the confidence to approach Harry yet. She would often look at him in the Great Hall or common room before quickly turning away if he noticed. She couldn't understand why this was so difficult when she had been waiting to meet him for a decade. But what if he was angry with her and her family for not being in his life, despite their efforts. Or if he just didn't want her to be in his life at all. The varying prospects made her stomach ache.

I was now being escorted by the twins into Defense Against the Dark Arts which was our only class on Friday's. As the three of us entered the classroom I looked over to see Ange waving us over.

"Bloody hell, we have another one," Fred said as I looked up at the new Professor who still had his back towards us.

Taking in the newest member in the slew of defense professors, I was startled as I looked at the back of this man's turban. The voices around me became muffled as I focused in and felt the same chilling sensation I had a year before near the Forbidden Forest. It was like this man had a pair of eyes on the back of his head which were now boring into me.

I visibly shook as I started to hear George saying my name.

"Marnie, are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Yea, why wouldn't I be? Just startled I guess to see yet another teacher for Defense," I answered.

"You can't be cold Hare, it's stifling in here," Fred added having seen me shiver.

"Just a random chill I guess," I said as I continued to stare at the teacher's back.

He then turned around to introduce himself before I was taken aback. The man I had been initially weary of was a stuttering, pale man, who looked no more than one hundred pounds in weight. He was an obviously feeble man who shouldn't really pose much of a threat. However, all throughout the lesson I still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling I got from being in his presence.

After a class spent just watching the movement and patterns of our new professor due to a lack of focus, my friends and I headed up to the common room before dinner. We all took a seat in a circle of couches while we finally relaxed from our first week back. I closed my eyes for a moment as I tried to collect my thoughts from the past three hours before I felt Ange nudge me in the side.

I opened my eyes to see Ron and Harry standing beside me.

"Hey Marnie, do you mind if we talk to you for a moment?" Ron asked with a smile while Harry nervously stood beside him.

"Of course," I replied as I got up to follow them to the other end of the common room which was currently vacant.

I sat down opposite of the boys who went silent upon my sitting.

"Is there anything specific you wanted to talk about?" I asked, looking quizzically between the both of them.

"Well, Harry here has a pretty surprising question to ask you actually Marnie," Ron said, still not having heard a word from Harry.

I looked at the boy thoughtfully as I braced myself for what Harry wanted from me.

"Erm- it's just- you look so familiar to me and I can't think of how that could be possible," Harry said with a sigh.

I looked down at my feet before looking back up at him.

"I do know you Harry, or at least I did when we were young," I whispered while I heard him sharply inhale.

"Why didn't you tell us you knew Harry, Marnie?" Ron interrupted while Harry just looked over at him.

"My father and uncle were best friends with your parents," I explained slowly.

I watched the sad expression form on his face which made me panic.

"I promise we tried to contact you, probably hundreds of times but we never got a response. We always figured your aunt never wanted you to meet us," I explained frantically. "My father and uncle even tried to get custody of you at one point since my mum is your god-mum but…" I was cut off by Harry.

"Your mum is my god-mum?" Harry asked, obviously intrigued.

"Yes," I whispered with a smile.

I could feel tears well up in my eyes, but I forced them away.

"It's just that it's not possible for her to fulfill that duty," I explained, unable to reach Harry's eyes.

"Oh…. Right," Harry said as I saw him look over at Ron.

I figured he must have told Harry about my mum already.

"Please don't be mad Marnie," Ron said quietly.

"Of course not Ron, it's alright that you told him," I replied back with a smile.

Before I could say anything else the twins came over to our little group.

"What's going on over here?" Fred asked slyly while I saw George furrow his brow in worry.

At the sight of my unshed tears Fred's expression turned.

"Why is Marnie crying?" Fred asked more harshly as he looked over to his brother and newfound friend.

"Fred, calm down. I'll explain later okay?" I asked pleadingly but I knew he wouldn't back down so easily.

George on the other hand could see the desperation in my face and nodded.

"Come on Fred, Marnie's got it handled," he said as he yanked on his brother's arm.

"Two minutes Hare," Fred said which I knew to mean that was all he was willing to stay away while I was distraught.

The twins then walked away while I turned back to Harry.

"I'm sorry about that, they're pretty protective," I explained feeling embarrassed at their increased level of protectiveness over me.

"Do you remember them?" Harry asked, which I knew to mean his parents.

"A little, but I wasn't too much older than you," I said with a frown. "But we have some pictures at home, I could get dad to send you some that you might not have seen before," I suggested as Harry's face lit up.

"I've actually never seen a picture of them before," Harry admitted while I gasped.

"How is that possible?" I demanded, feeling my sadness turn to anger.

"My aunt and uncle lied to me about everything and refused to show me anything concerning my parents," he explained.

"That's outrageous!" I exclaimed. "I'll be sure to tell my dad and uncle about this. Maybe there's something we can do," I said as I started to think of a plan.

"You really do look out for everyone don't you?" Harry asked with a smile as he looked over at Ron.

"Of course, you're my brother," I replied, not even really thinking of what I was admitting to.

I watched Ron's bewildered expression but couldn't read Harry's.

"I'm sorry Harry, it's just… I know that's what I called you when we were young. And with my mum being your god-mum, and well your parents were my god-parents..." I rambled before Harry interrupted.

"I never thought it possible that I could have a sibling," he answered with a little bit of a shine in his eyes.

I smiled before I walked over to hug him. He returned the embrace with a tight grip while I felt a tear land on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you sooner. I just didn't want to lose you again," I whispered as I felt my own tears fall.

"I understand Marnie," he whispered back before he finally let go.

"Want to head down for dinner?" I asked both boys.

"Yea I'm starved," Ron answered, causing Harry and I both to laugh.

"Plus, it looks like Fred is staring bullets at us," Harry said a little alarmed.

"Come on, we have loads to talk about," I said, putting my arm over Harry with Ron walking on my other side.

I waved at my friends to tell them to follow us down and soon felt the twins right behind us, although staying uncharacteristically quiet. We headed for dinner and I ended up sitting between Fred and Harry while Ron sat on Harry's other side. Harry and I talked about both of our childhoods which left me outraged with his aunt and uncle. But Harry was especially interested in my dad and uncle as I told him he could send them a letter if he so wished. I also told him I would send a letter and ask for some photos to be sent of both of our parents and family so I could point everyone out. I knew Fred and George were picking up pieces of our conversation, but they remained silent as I talked with Harry. They knew I would explain everything later on and respected me to come to them which I greatly appreciated. However, Fred had set a hand on my leg which he kept there for the entire meal as it brought me comfort and reassurance. This was one of the best days I had ever had at Hogwarts, the day I finally got my brother back.

 **So I found the story took an interesting turn this chapter, one I wasn't initially anticipating. But I am satisfied with the overall foundation for Harry and Marnie's relationship.**

 **Thank-you for all of the support I have been receiving, in return I will continue to share my story with you all!**


	19. Trolls and Attempted Murder

The next two months at Hogwarts mostly focused around Harry. The night we first talked I also sent a letter to both my dad and uncle telling them about Harry. I also requested pictures of our family to be able to show him and explained how outraged I was that he had never seen a picture of his own parents. Since then my family and I had been corresponding almost daily and Harry had even started to write to them as well. I knew he asked them all sorts of questions and they had all been eager to oblige. Dad even invited him over for Christmas which Harry happily agreed to.

I also told the twins about knowing Harry's parents during the war and how I had few cherished memories of being like his older sister. In response they had just hugged me and forwardly treated Harry like one of the mates whenever he was around. The only thing I couldn't quite convince them of was to lay off Ron.

It was now Halloween and my group of friends were all heading down for the celebratory feast. I was excitedly explaining to Harry that it was much like the Welcoming Feast but filled with sweets and pastries instead of meats and potatoes. As I talked to him though, I noticed him give Ron pointed looks when we took our seats.

"What's going on between you two?" I asked looking between them. "Come on, out with it."

"Well, I may have insulted this girl," Ron explained while I shook my head.

"Hermione," Harry filled in.

"And she might be crying her eyes out in the girl's lavatory," Ron finished while I gasped.

"Ronald Weasley! All that girl wants is some friends, she's just trying to in her own way," I explained, standing up from the table to head back out of the Great Hall.

"By bothering us and complaining?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yes!" I shouted back as I headed away from the table.

"Oi, Marnie, where are you going?" Lee called out after me.

"Just to the bathroom Jordan," I called back causing Fred to elbow Lee.

Once I exited the Great Hall, I walked down the stairs and through the corridors until I reached the lavatory in the Charms hallway, which I knew was the class the first year's on Thursdays. When I opened the door, I immediately heard a light sobbing before I closed the door gently.

"Hermione, are you in here?" I asked, causing the girl to emit a squeak like I surprised her.

"It's Marnie, isn't it?" Hermione replied back.

"That's right. I just wanted to come down and tell you that I know what an insufferable fool Ronald Weasley can be," I said casually before sitting up on the sink.

I heard Hermione let out a soft laugh.

"You don't have to be nice," she commented which meant it was my turn to laugh.

"I just figured you would want to hear it from someone who had their deepest secret spilled because of Ron that he isn't all that bad, he just talks before he thinks," I explained before a pregnant pause.

The latch on the stall door then clicked and the puffy-faced girl stepped out.

"He did that to you?" she asked as I nodded.

"Yea he did, and it was horrible. But I think he might have felt even worse about it than I did when he realized what he had done," I explained while Hermione nodded.

"I know I talk too much, and I come off as a know-it-all," she started to explain before I cut her off.

"I told him all you wanted was to be friends," I replied which caused her to softly blush with a smile.

After a few moments of quiet I hopped off the counter and stretched my hand towards her.

"Why don't we go to that feast, the pumpkin pasties are the best," I said as she smiled before taking my hand.

"You should be a prefect," Hermione said which incited me laugh.

"That's awful nice for you to say, but I'm afraid Fred and George might disown me," I said to which she only nodded.

But as we approached the door, I started to smell a hideous odour coming from just outside paired with a loud stomping sound. I looked back to Hermione who just shrugged with a fearful look in her eyes.

"Marnie," she whispered.

"Yea," I said back.

"I'm starting to remember something that is supposed to protrude this distinct odour," she said while covering her nose.

"I'm not going to like it am I?" I asked as she shook her head.

Back in the Great Hall Harry and Ron were talking with Lee and the twins.

"How was I supposed to know that by being annoying she was trying to be my friend?" Ron asked causing Harry and Lee to shrug.

"Oh dear brother, there is still so much you need to learn about our feminine counterparts," Fred said while shaking his head.

"Is that why you keep Marnie around?" Ron asked while it was then Harry's turn to shake his head.

"Marnie is one of us, and she also happens to be the one fixing your mess," George explained with a stern look.

Harry and Lee stifled their laughter.

"Troll, in the dungeons!" Professor Quirrell shouted moments after rushing into the Great Hall. "Just thought you would like to know," he added before passing out.

The hall immediately erupted into panicked whispers.

"SILENCE!" Professor Dumbledore shouted as every student followed his solitary instruction. "Prefects, escort your houses promptly to their houses. Professors, with me to the dungeons," he exclaimed efficiently.

The boys stood up before Harry froze in his tracks. He looked over to Ron who had stopped with him instead of following the others.

"Marnie and Hermione, they're down in the dungeons," Harry said frantically.

Harry then took off opposite of the students followed closely by Ron. Once they had run down to the Charms hallway, a horrible, putrid smell emanated from the other end. They followed the scent cautiously before hearing a pair of screams. This started them hurrying for the girl's lavatory again before running through the entrance which had already been parted from its hinges. When the boys finally turned the corner, it was only to see a huge troll in between them and the girls. Hermione had a visible wound on her head while she was holding an unconscious Marnie in her lap.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked as he simultaneously sized up the troll.

But before Hermione could answer the troll started to seize towards the girls.

"Hey dung brain," Ron hollered as he started throwing rubble at the troll.

Harry followed suit as both boys threw debris at the troll. In response, the troll turned around and started to advance onto them instead.

"Do something!" Hermione screamed as Harry noticed the troll bending down to attack.

Taking advantage of the troll's lowered position, Harry jumped onto its head which caused the troll to abruptly stand up and try to sway him off.

"Ron!" Harry yelled in a panic.

Hermione expertly started coaching Ron into a plan from across the room where she was still separated from them holding Marnie. As per her instructions the troll's club started floating in the air above the troll and then unceremoniously came crashing down onto its head, rendering him unconscious. As the troll fell, Harry ungraciously made his way to jump off and landed beside Ron. The two boys then approached Hermione and a very still Marnie.

"What happened?" Harry asked frantically.

"We were making our way to leave the lavatory when I figured out that there must somehow be a troll in the corridor. But before we could make our move, the door blasted open causing Marnie to be thrown back. She hit her head and landed unconscious. I ran to her and dragged her to the far end, but the troll spotted us. Thankfully that's about the time you two ran in," Hermione explained as Harry bent over to bring Marnie's head to his own lap.

"You're okay now Marnie. I'm here, your brother's here," Harry repeated while Hermione looked surprisingly towards Ron who just put his finger to his mouth and shook his head, indicating it wasn't a well-known detail that the O'Hara girl and the Boy Who Lived considered themselves siblings.

Moments later a group of professors approached and McGonagall let out a loud gasp.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded while the others looked around in astonishment.

"Looking for fame and glory most likely," Snape sneered at Harry rather maliciously.

"That's enough Severus," Dumbledore ordered before approaching the group of children.

"Professor McGonagall, send for Madam Pomfrey so Miss O'Hara and Miss Granger can be assessed. Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley will be escorted by myself to the Gryffindor common room while they relay their story to me."

"It was me professor," Hermione interrupted before anything more could be said.

"What do you mean Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked incredulously.

"I mean, I went looking for the troll while Marnie came to try and talk me out of it. But we saw the troll before we could escape and then Harry and Ron came and saved us when they noticed us missing at the feast," she explained while her head of house looked appalled.

"That is a serious feat Miss. Granger which recklessly rendered Miss. O'Hara unconscious," McGonagall shook her head. "Fifty points from Gryffindor. Now follow me as we help get Miss. O'Hara to a hospital bed," she grabbed onto Hermione's arm and she levitated Marnie away.

Dumbledore did escort the boys to their dormitory, but silently since Hermione had taken the blame, before making his way back to the dungeons to rid of the troll.

As the two boys entered the common room, they were met by the stares of every Gryffindor who had obviously noticed their absence.

"Where the bloody hell is Marnie?" Fred asked, almost charging the boys.

"In the hospital wing," Harry answered meekly.

"What happened?" George came over with a worried expression.

"She was sort of mowed over by a troll," Ron explained.

"WHAT?" the twins shouted in unison while Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and Lee ran over.

"What do you mean mowed over by a troll?" Angelina asked incredulously while Fred and George were already running towards the door.

"Fred! George! Stop!" they heard their prefect brother shouting, to which they easily ignored.

The twins ran all the way to the hospital wing before barging in and spotting Marnie a few beds away. She was unconscious and had bruises all over her arms and face.

Fred let out an audible whimper while he and his brother made their way to her bedside.

"It's nearly curfew! You boys mustn't be here," Madam Pomfrey chastised as she came out of her office with healing potions for Marnie.

"Please, just five minutes?" Fred pleaded while the matron took in his desperate manner.

"Fine, but not a minute more or you won't make it back before curfew," she said before turning away.

"Why is it always Hare?" Fred asked anxiously, causing George to look over at his brother.

"She's always trying to do the right thing and because of it all she always ends up here," Fred continued.

"She's a fighter Fred, there's nothing that's going to slow her down," George said softly while carefully picking up his friend's hand.

"Bloody git of a brother, she was fixing his bloody problem. She shouldn't have even been there," Fred started but George just sighed.

"Yea, but then Hermione would have been alone. And who knows what would have happened?" George countered making it Fred's turn to sigh.

Both of them looked over to the adjacent bed where Hermione was sleeping, no doubt having been given a sleeping draught.

"Just feel so bloody helpless," Fred said dejectedly.

"Me too, Fred. Me too," George agreed before the two of them went quiet.

They just looked at Marnie who remained asleep through their brief visit, looking worse than she ever had. After their five minutes ended, both Weasley's slowly got up and hesitantly left the hospital wing with intentions to visit first thing in the morning.

XXX

Marnie could feel the sun coming through the window as the light shone through her eyelids. There were muffled whispers around her bed which she thought was very odd. Her birthday had already passed, and she didn't think it was a quidditch game today, so why were the girls circling her bed?

But then the events from last night slowly filtered back as the last thing she remembered was the horrid stench of the troll and the door being blasted through as it entered the lavatory.

"'Ermione," I whimpered as I tried to open my eyes.

"Ermione. Needs help," I said, trying to brush back the wave of nausea and blurry vision.

"I'm here Marnie, everything is alright," I heard the girl say from somewhere beside me.

I could then feel both of my hands being held and the weight of someone leaning over the end of the bed.

My vision slowly came through as I noticed Fred and Harry each holding one of my hands and George sitting on the bed at my feet. Hermione was standing beside Harry and Ron was at the foot of the bed looking at me. I tried to smile but felt the muscles in my face hurt from the movement which caused me to wince.

"Marnie, don't move. You were thrown by a troll," Harry ordered as he gently put his other hand on my chest to stop me from getting up.

"What happened?" I asked, hearing Harry sigh.

"Ron and I came to get you once Professor Quirrell announced there was a troll in the castle. When we got to the girl's lavatory Hermione had dragged you out of the way, but the troll was advancing towards you. So, Ron and I got its attention and eventually were able to take him out with his own club," he explained quietly while Hermione and Ron nodded their agreeance.

"But, that's not the official story so don't say anything, even to the professors," Hermione whispered.

I managed to nod briefly in assurance.

"Am I the only one who got hurt?" I asked hopefully.

"Yea, and I'm so sorry," Ron said guiltily.

"It's not your fault Ron, I'm just glad that no one else was hurt and that I managed to find Hermione beforehand. Plus, it's nice to see everyone here together," I said with a pointed look at Ron who blushed.

"Yea, we're all good now. After the troll and everything," Hermione said with a smile.

"Hare," Fred interupted quietly. "I can't believe you go from taking on Flint to a mountain troll."

"Not that the two aren't necessarily dissimilar," George added with a smirk.

"But we would really appreciate it if every time you confronted something you didn't end up bruised and unconscious," Fred finished with a sigh.

"It's not like I do it on purpose," I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Alright, I think it's time for Miss. O'Hara's visiting party to leave and only return tomorrow after she has gotten some rest and has had time for her bones to mend," Madam Pomfrey interrupted.

My friends all bid me good night before quietly vacating the wing. Despite only having just woken up I could feel everything in my body aching which in turn made my eyes feel heavy. Within minutes I was asleep again.

XXX

Two day later I was finally able to leave the hospital wing. The twins and Harry had been constantly at my bedside which had driven Madam Pomfrey mad, but they hadn't budged. Harry filled me in on more details about the troll attack, which had usually made Fred turn green. I think it scared the twins more than ever this time when I had landed myself unconscious.

I also found out that one of the only downsides to having a new brother was that he reports back to my family. Dad and Remus had almost come to the school when Harry told them I had been attacked by a troll. Apparently, he tried to downplay it in the letter, but hearing your daughter was attacked by a full-size mountain troll is an extreme circumstance in itself.

In response I had to send dad my own letter telling him he couldn't pull me out of school since it would leave Harry by himself. This had gotten my father to begrudgingly agree to let me stay, especially since Harry would be playing in his first ever quidditch game in a few days.

A few days later Harry and the rest of my friends were setting off to play their first game of the season. All of them had been extremely hesitant to leave me alone, with Lee in his usual spot to announce, so I was sitting with Hagrid, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna.

As we watched the players come out on the pitch, I felt my stomach hitch since I was nervous for Harry only being a first year. Hermione and Hagrid also shared my concern while the others were stoked to see Harry fly. Reportedly he was quite brilliant. As we watched them set off, I was quite impressed to see Harry zooming around purposefully as he looked for the snitch. However, after the game began Harry's flying soon became erratic, like he had lost control.

" 'Here's summat wrong wit' 'Arry's broom stick," Hagrid said as I stood up in worry.

I then watched Harry's broom suddenly drop about ten feet before somewhat stabilizing. Seeing this I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"FRED! There's something wrong with Harry's broom!"

I hadn't expected Fred to hear me, but he looked out into the audience before looking up towards Harry. In response to seeing Harry whirling about Fred and George both flew over to Harry and tried to get him off the broom. I watched nervously as it seemed to be an impossible feat. When either of the twins tried to grab onto Harry, the broom would try and buck Harry off. Tears formed in my eyes as I watched my best friends attempt to bring my brother to safety. After several failed attempts, the twins decided to fly lower, underneath Harry, so to catch him if he fell. Although I was thankful for their efforts, it made me sick to think they would have to try and catch Harry from those heights. Just then I felt Hermione pull on my sleeve.

"Look Marnie, it's Snape," she said as I grudgingly pulled my gaze over to where the professors were sitting.

Sure enough I could see Snape incessantly mumbling while keeping his eyes from blinking. Classic signs of a jinx.

"What in Merlin's name is he doing?" I asked incredulously as I tried to fathom why the professor hated Harry so much.

Harry had told me all about how Snape incessantly targeted him in class, more so than any other Gryffindor. But to try and kill him in a quidditch match, that seemed off the charts.

"Wait here," I heard Hermione say before heading off in the direction of the professor's section. I darted my gaze between Hermione and Harry, watching as the twins circled and Hermione made her way over. Moments later I saw smoke start emanating from where Snape was sitting and realized Hermione had started a small fire to break the professor's gaze, therefore breaking the jinx. I then whirled my head back over to Harry who now had control over his broom. I let out a deep sigh in relief.

In the next moment however Harry's broom darted towards the ground and I felt my stomach drop again. Instinctually, I grabbed onto Ron who was the closest beside me. He clasped onto my hand and we both watched in horror as Harry neared the ground. However, in the nick of time he pulled up his broom before setting down on the ground. Still watching him, I noticed him starting to heave. This seemed to be all I could take watching Harry si I decidedly turned to go down to the pitch.

"Marnie, look!" Ron exclaimed, causing me to turn back curiously.

"Harry Potter has the snitch! Gryffindor wins!" I heard Lee bellow from the announcer's box.

In utter shock I ran and hugged Ron before turning to Neville and Luna. All of us then ran down to the pitch with Hermione who had caught up to us.

I ran straight at Harry who returned my embrace as I practically threw myself onto him. I had tears of relief and saw Fred and George approach. I disentangled myself from Harry for a moment only to hug Fred and George.

"Thank-you," I whispered to both of them.

"He's our friend too, Hare," Fred said with a smile.

"Couldn't have him becoming a pancake now. He's an excellent seeker, we need him to win the cup," George said, causing me to hit him on the arm.

I then turned back to Harry and put my arm around his shoulder. He was now talking with Ron and Hermione about what we had seen.

"We'll talk later," Harry whispered beside me, trying to be discreet since now it seemed a teacher was out to murder him.

But before we could say anything else, we heard a snarling voice from behind us.

"Look, O'Hara thinks she has a boyfriend," I heard Flint sneer maliciously.

"How does the dirty squib think she could ever date someone as famous as Potter here, despite his already bad taste in friends," he said looking over at Ron and Hermione.

"You leave her alone Flint," Harry said evenly, causing Flint to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"You don't want to be with the likes of her Potter, her blood is as dirty as they come," he added.

"Shut it Flint, you already lost the game," I said wanting to prevent any fight from breaking out.

"Yea, well your boyfriend here is a pathetic flyer who can't even handle his own broom," Flint snarled.

I noticed now that his cronies had also started to walk over.

But before anything could break out, Hagrid finally made it down to the pitch and hollered at the gathering Slytherins.

"Get away with yeh!" he demanded, earning him some well pointed sneers from the Slytherins.

"Dumbledore warned yeh bout harrassin' anymore," Hagrid said sternly before Flint sent one final glare and finally turned away with his teammates.

"Thanks Hagrid," I turned around with a smile.

"Best be gettin' up ter the castle yeh lot," Hagrid said.

The twins were already in the changing room along with Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. Harry ran off to quickly change while we waited for them to return. I noticed that Hermione, Ron, Neville and Luna had me flanked as I came to stand in the middle of the group.

That night at dinner, after convincing the twins not to murder Flint, Harry and I were discussing the letter I was going to send my father about the game.

"I don't want him to worry!" Harry said in desperation.

"You told him about the troll!" I retorted.

"Yea, but this is different," he said unconvincingly.

"A teacher is trying to off you mate," Ron piped in while Harry turned back to glare at him.

"What if he revokes my quidditch permission slip?" Harry asked anxiously.

I looked at him for a moment and knew the game meant just as much to him as it did to the twins and the girls. And even though I was still anxious from today's game, I didn't want to take that happiness away from him.

"We won't let that happen Harry. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything rash. I mean, Remus talked him into letting me stay in school, I'm sure he will do the same for you," I reasoned.

We both looked at each other a moment later.

"What if he wants to take us out of school?" we said simultaneously before laughing at our identicalness.

"That's just creepy," Ron said with a shudder. "I've only ever seen Fred and George do that, and I think they rehearse," he continued.

We smiled at each other before I got an idea.

"I want to show you something," I said, grabbing his hand to lead him away from the group.

My friends gave me a quizzical look, but I waved them off.

"I'll meet you back at the common room," I said.

I led Harry to the trophy case outside of Madam Hooch's office. I had seen it when I had taken flying lessons in my first year because I had known to look for it. Remus had always gone on about James' seeking days and how talented he had been to watch. That was why I had looked for his name in the engravements of previous Gryffindor seekers.

"Dad knows James was a seeker and how much it meant to him," I said while Harry stared at his own father's name. "He won't make you quit," I finished confidently.

"Thanks Marnie," was all he said while he continued staring at the name with a small smile.

After several minutes we made our way back to the Gryffindor common room where our friends were waiting. Harry went off to talk to Ron and Hermione, no doubt about Snape's attempt on his life, while I went to sit with my own friends. I already knew what had happened during the game, so I didn't particularly feel like hashing out the details from earlier. It was actually nice to just be able to relax with my own friends who were still reeling from their win against Slytherin and temporarily forget about the dangers which seemed to be following me and Harry.


	20. The Rumour

It had taken a solid week and even a letter from Professor Dumbledore, but my father finally agreed to keep both Harry and I enrolled at Hogwarts. A troll attack and an attempt on Harry's life had been at the very least, extremely taxing on my father's nerves, however it had been eventually agreed upon that Hogwarts still remained one of the safest places for magical children to attend school.

However, Harry and I had another feat to go up against since Flint had taken it upon himself to start rumours in lieu of our confrontation on the quidditch pitch. Since Hagrid had prevented him from direct action and he was still being watched by Dumbledore, Flint had instead told the entire school that I was dating Harry. This meant that the entire school concluded that I was out to harness some of Harry's fame for myself while Harry was out of his mind for dating a squib's daughter. Oh yea, he had also told the entire school about my dad.

Harry and I then spent the next week with our heads down, especially when we were seen together. George had been telling everyone off who tried to approach me whenever I was with my friends, which I was extremely thankful for, but Fred just sulked. I couldn't even comprehend how the rumour that was ruining my life could upset him so much, but I also didn't really want to ask; I had enough to deal with.

By the end of the week I was exhausted from trying to keep a low profile and trying to avoid explaining myself. Although Harry and I were obviously not dating, our tight family connection and our self-proclaimed sibling status still seemed too private and intimate to share, especially when it was still so new to us.

So, this meant that when I entered Potions class with my friends, I tried to stay in the middle of my friends before taking our usual seats on the unofficial Gryffindor side. Soon after, Professor Snape made his austere entrance and immediately started firing off his usual pointed questions.

"What is the purpose for brewing Tempus Gloria Miss O'Hara?" was the first question he posed as I looked up unsurprisingly at Snape who had his usual sneer.

"I'm not sure professor, it wasn't in this week's readings," I answered as I tried to rack my brain for a detail I may have missed.

"You foolish girl, you read about it in the first year's lessons," he retorted with contempt.

I then started to think back to our lessons two years ago before the professor continued with his snide remarks.

"Not surprising, Potter didn't have the answer either this morning while he was actually supposed to have read the chapter," he said pointedly while I felt my ears turn red. "Obviously not drawn by magical ability, just as sure as your mother wasn't" Snape continued before I looked up in horror.

"Harry is my brother!" I shouted, knocking back my chair in anger. "Not that I should have to explain that to you or anyone else," I continued staring down the professor. "And how dare you bring up my mother or my family when we are just supposed to be talking about potion brewing."

By this point I was completely outraged. I shoved my things into my rucksack and stormed out of the classroom. I couldn't be bothered with how many house points I had surely lost or the smirking Slytherins from the other side of the room, including Flint. My relationships with both Harry and my mother were two of the most intimate and complicated things in my life, neither of which should be broadcasted around the school, especially by a professor. But what could I expect from the man who made an attempt on Harry's life only a week ago?

I stormed my way to the library where I pulled down the textbook for first year Potions. I was even further annoyed when I couldn't locate Tempus Gloria anywhere; what a lying git.

About twenty minutes later, while I still poured over the Potions texts for the answer, I was approached by Harry, Hermione and Ron.

"Erm Marnie," I heard Hermione say timidly. "Is everything okay?"

"Snape is a slimy git," was all I answered.

This seemed to be an acceptable answer for the three first years as they then proceeded to sit down.

"Can I see that?" I asked, pointing to Hermione's Potions text she had just taken out.

"Erm, sure," she said as she passed it over.

I began flipping through it feverously and finally arrived at the page labelled Tempus Gloria

"It's for brewing glory!" I exclaimed, having finally found the answer.

"Ugh, it's because this is a new addition," I added while looking at the cover.

"You were learning about this potion too?" Hermione asked while I just scoffed.

"Snape got after Harry for not knowing the answer too," Ron explained.

"Oh, don't I know it," I exclaimed while the other three looked around at each other nervously since I had been noticeably angry ever since they sat down. "Snape told me all about how my idiot boyfriend Harry Potter hadn't known the answer either and how I should know a first year Potion; but this is a new addition!" I yelled while Hermione looked around nervously. "Slimy git probably knew that too and just wanted to make me look like a fool while he insulted my mother," I went on hearing Harry gasped.

"He did what?" Harry asked clenching his fists.

"He went on about how my mother wasn't attracted to magical ability, obviously a slight on my father since the whole school now knows about that too," I went on. "That was the last straw. I yelled at Snape after that about how he was insulting my family and I shouldn't have to defend myself, before I stormed out," I finished noticing Ron and Harry looking loathsome.

"You stormed out of class?" Hermione asked a bit disapprovingly.

"For Merlin's sake Hermione, he was insulting her mum," Ron said while Harry nodded vigorously.

"We should do something," Harry finally said.

"Harry, he's already trying to kill you, we have bigger issues to worry about," I said, placing my hand over his before he finally nodded. "Plus, I'm sure the twins already have that handled."

Before I could say anything else the librarian, Madam Pince, came over with a disdained look.

"Miss O'Hara, kindly remove yourself from my library since it appears you have no control over your own volume," she ordered.

I was now too exhausted to argue so I collected my things.

"I'll see you guys later," I remarked before I made my way up to the common room.

When I got there, I sat down by the fire and waited for my friends to return from class.

"Don't worry Marnie,' George said when he entered the common room and made his way to sit down beside me.

"We definitely got Snape back," Fred continued with a smile.

"Opened all the jars with horseflies in the supply cupboard," George went on with a devilish grin.

"He'll find himself a nice surprise when he opens the stores tomorrow," Fred finished proudly.

"Hey Hare," Fred said gently. "Why don't we just go down to the kitchens for dinner."

I stood up and Fred followed me out without hearing my answer.

"Isn't George tagging along?" I asked but Fred shook his head.

"Thought maybe it could just be the two of us this time?" Fred asked.

We made our way down to the cellar and were greeted by the usual energetic Posy.

"Our usual table there Posy," Fred said causing the house elf to giggle.

We sat down just as Posy ran off to bring us some food.

"It wasn't right Hare, what that slimy git said to you, in front of the whole class no less," Fred said gently.

"It's just because he hated James when they were at school and now it's anyone who associates with Harry," I said with no further ability to muster anymore anger.

"That doesn't make it right or appropriate," Fred said but I just shrugged.

"I'm a little more preoccupied that he seems intent on attacking Harry," I said while Fred lowered his gaze.

"Are you sure it was Snape?" he asked for not the first time.

"I've told you Fred, we saw him casting a curse, he wasn't blinking," I replied.

Posy then brought along some food which interrupted Fred's line of inquiry. I didn't really eat much but I did take the cookie Posy offered when she noticed my untouched plate.

"Fancy going up to the Astronomy Tower?" Fred asked on our way back.

I figured I didn't have anything to do but didn't have much energy to be sociable like we usually were in the tower.

"We'll be away from everyone," he added which led me to agree.

Fred took out the map and directed us through the hallways. The sun was setting over the horizon as we stared out, remaining silent. At some point Fred put his hand over mine as we continued to stare out in an easy silence. I knew I wasn't giving Fred much to go on, but I just felt exhausted from the day's events and didn't really want to explain myself. I hadn't noticed but eventually I nodded off as I leaned on Fred's shoulder. I felt him move from under my head as I opened my eyes sometime later to gaze out at the night sky.

"How long was I out?" I asked as I sat up properly.

"About an hour," Fred answered.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked incredulously.

"You needed the rest," he answered matter-of-factly.

I just stared at Fred, somewhat surprised by such a selfless act.

"Hare, I know I've been brooding all week while the whole school harassed you. Plus, it ended with a teacher trying to humiliate you in front of the entire class; it's too much for one person to handle, especially the person who means the entire world to me- besides George," he added which made me smile.

I then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Come on Freddie," I said as I stood up and offered my hand to him.

Once he stood up, I kept my hand in his while we made our way back to the common room. We stayed in an easy silence, but I knew Fred knew I felt the same way about him and had accepted his form of an apology. The twins didn't always articulate their emotions effectively, but their gestures were always well-intentioned, and I appreciated Fred's admittance to his odd behavior. I still didn't want to know the reasoning, plus I'm not even sure Fred knew. He had probably just acted out of instinct instead of actually figuring out why he felt the way he had. Regardless, I walked hand-in-hand with one of my best friends to the common room. But right before we gave the fat lady the password, I stood on my tip toes and whispered in Fred's ear. He nodded at my proposal and headed in while I ran up to my dormitory. Seconds later I came down with my pajamas in hand while the twins bid our friends goodnight. The three of us then made our way up to the boy's third year dorm to make our bed-fort where I could sleep in the middle.

As we walked away, I was unaware of the concerned stare coming from my brother.

"Where is my sister going with your brothers?" Harry asked pointedly while Ron and Hermione turned to look at the retreating trio.

"Oh Harry, they're just friends, you need to relax," Hermione said shaking her head before returning to her book.

"Yea, don't sweat it mate, Marnie is just really close with Fred and George. Plus, she's had a rough day," Ron said a little less confidently than Hermione.

Harry just stared after them. He kept his gaze at the empty staircase for a few more moments before sighing and returning his attention to his Charms essay. Having a sibling was a full-time commitment; he couldn't have anyone taking advantage of his sister now.


	21. God-son

Apparently standing up to a professor earns you some respect points amongst the student body which meant that I was no longer the number one outcast at Hogwarts. The Slytherins still hated me of course, but what else was new? It was however a bizarre change of pace to have the rest of the houses congratulate me as I walked down the halls while some even apologized to Harry for assuming we were together when it was now common knowledge we were somehow siblings. I couldn't have been bothered with all of the attention, but I was glad that the rumours seemed to have dissipated.

We were now into December and Harry and I were eagerly awaiting our first Christmas together at the cottage. Harry hadn't actually met dad or Remus in person yet, so I was extremely excited for us all to finally be together. However, we wouldn't be going to the Weasley's this year since Ginny and their parents were travelling to visit Charlie in Romania on his first year away from home.

"Are you sure you won't sign up to stay at the school Hare?" Fred asked one evening as we all sat by the fire in the common room.

"I've told you, this is the first Christmas our family is having with Harry and I can't miss it," I explained without even looking up from my book since this had been at least the twelfth time Fred had asked me.

"But we always spend Christmas together," he said rather dejectedly before I finally looked up at his pouting face.

"That has only happened one time, and it's not like I haven't said I won't miss you," I answered.

I also noticed this seemed to cause Fred's eyes to perk a bit. He then sighed after a moment and gave me a soft smile.

"I know how much this means to you Hare. It's just… I rather like spending Christmas with you," he said which I knew made me blush since my cheeks felt warm.

So, in response I quickly put my face back behind my book, not understanding my bizarre reaction.

XXX

A few days later the Weasley's were bidding us farewell in the front hall of Hogwarts as Harry and I were all bundled to head to England for the holidays. George pulled me into a warm embrace, also giving me a swift kiss on my forehead.

"Watch out for yourself won't you?" he asked with a small laugh.

"I do have Harry with me you know," I answered haughtily at the insinuation that I attract danger and catastrophe.

"Yea, that doesn't really make me feel any better," he replied uneasily "It's almost like you two attract danger together, which only heightens with proximity," he added. "So just be careful."

Fred then grabbed my arm once George let go as I was almost spun into his arms.

"You two are acting awfully protective," I said pointedly.

"Well you've given us good reason too, now haven't you," Fred said while I just leaned into his embrace.

"It's not like I go looking for trouble," I countered with a sigh.

"I know. But I'm rather convinced it seeks you out," he replied.

We stayed in our embrace for a few moments before I finally stepped back.

"Happy Christmas, the both of you," I said before turning to join Harry again.

In response Harry then took my hand as we started to head out.

'Happy Christmas Marnie," Ron said when I passed him who had previously been bidding Harry good-bye.

I gave Ron a quick hug as I passed which I saw made him blush rather severely.

Harry then led me out to the large group of students who were being escorted down to Hogsmeade Station.

Several hours later, after Harry and I had sat with Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Lee and Hermione, we were boarding off the train. Harry immediately grasped my hand which felt sort of clammy, but I didn't fault him for being nervous. From what Harry had told me, he had had a less than adequate childhood and family who had never shown him any proper kind of affection. This experience would unfortunately be quite foreign to him.

A few moments later I spotted my dad and Remus, wearing his usual trench coat, so I pointed them out to Harry. His face lit up in nervous excitement as we headed over. As we got closer, they spotted our approach and I could see both men staring at Harry. We were almost face-to-face when my father and Remus visibly lit up and came to greet us.

"Harry, I'm Joss, and this is Remus!" my father exclaimed while he came up to Harry with his arms extended in offering for a hug.

Harry hesitantly went into my father's arms before fully committing and returning the familial embrace. A few moments later he was then approached by Remus who also offered his outstretched arms. I noticed both men with tears in their eyes while they took the boy in, already considering him to be one of their own in our odd sort of family.

"You look just like James," Remus said as he looked down at Harry who I could also tell had a shine in his eyes.

"So, you both really knew my parents?" Harry asked despite all the correspondence he had had with my father and uncle.

"Yes of course," they answered gleefully.

"You got the pictures we sent didn't you?" my father asked while Harry nodded and thanked him profusely.

"Well why don't we set off?" my dad suggested while he hugged me in greeting and took my trunk.

Remus did the same for Harry as we walked out of King's Cross and headed for Remus' car. On the way home Harry asked both my father and Remus lots of questions about his parents and even life at the cottage. I remained mostly quiet during the ride while I just smiled at their reunion. I had Harry all to myself at school while dad and Remus had only letters to communicate. Plus, it had been a decade since they had seen him.

Nearly an hour later we arrived home and Harry marveled at the cottage as he stopped in the drive.

"It's not much, but it's served its purpose for us," my dad said setting my trunk down beside me.

"It's brilliant," was all Harry said before I took his hand to lead him inside.

"It's quite small, so as we told you in the letter, Remus and I put another bed in Marnie's room for you two to share," my dad said as we walked in the front door.

"Why don't you show Harry upstairs while Remus and I start dinner?" dad continued.

Obligingly I led Harry so we took our trunks and lugged them upstairs to my bedroom which oversaw the front yard. I went over to my bed while Harry took the one adjacent which occupied the space my desk used to take which was now pushed up against the window.

"Would you like to see the rest of the house?" I asked and Harry eagerly agreed.

I showed him where dad and Remus' rooms were as well as the bathroom located upstairs. We then traipsed downstairs while I showed him the sitting room where the pictures of our family sat on the mantel.

"Your mother is beautiful," Harry remarked as he looked at my parent's wedding photo.

I absolutely loved that picture which showed my dad twirling my mother around in her elegant white dress in the meadow in which they got married. Mum's head is dipped back in pure enjoyment while my father looks at her blissfully and in awe. I'm sure that was what true love looked like if ever captured in a Polaroid.

"Lena never went long without smiling," Remus said walking over towards us.

"She's almost glowing in this picture," Harry replied.

"Well she is three months pregnant there," Remus answered with a smile.

"Oh, I didn't even know," Harry answered with a blush.

"The war changed a lot of things," Remus said with a sad smile.

"I would have liked to meet her," Harry replied.

I heard Remus's breath catch slightly as he turned to look back at dad who was working away in the kitchen.

"Well Harry, Joss and I were actually going to offer you the chance," Remus said slowly. "I just have to tell you that her mind isn't there and she won't know you or even any of us," he continued despondently.

Harry took my hand and gave it a squeeze paired with a meaningful look.

"Marnie has told me all about her mum and why she can't legally proclaim herself as my guardian but that doesn't change the fact of who she is," Harry said. "Plus, you have all had to live with her condition and I only think it's right if I do as well," he continued while still holding my hand.

"Very well Harry," Remus replied. "We were planning on going to St. Mungo's on Christmas," he continued before sitting down.

We joined him on the adjacent couch and talked amicably as Remus asked Harry about school, pointedly avoiding talk of trolls or quidditch for now; but I knew that would only come later. Soon after dad announced that dinner was ready and the three of us all headed for the dining table. Harry sat in the vacant seat at the end which looked out into the backyard and gaped at the view.

"This is a remarkable place you live in," he said, causing my dad to chuckle.

"It never gets old," dad replied serving a large portion of food onto Harry's plate.

It was comforting to see dad and Remus already taking care of Harry; serving his food and such. I could tell from their faces that dad and Remus were concerned with the size of Harry and the condition of his clothing but hadn't said a word as of yet.

The rest of the evening went by pleasantly as we sat around like normal families do and talked about school, interests, likes, memories, amongst other stories and anecdotes. Harry filled Remus and dad in on a lot of details in his letters, but it made it more real to hear it directly from the boy. They had obviously been appalled with Petunia's actions and outraged that Harry had only just found out about most of his life in the past few months.

But around eleven o'clock, when Harry and I could no longer suppress our yawns, we were ushered to bed by dad and Remus.

"Oh Harry, we cleared out some drawers for you in this half of the dresser," dad told him while they escorted us to the bedroom.

Harry opened the drawers only to have a confused look on his face when he found the drawers already full.

"We didn't know what you would need," Remus answered modestly while Harry took out some new articles of clothing that dad and Remus had obviously bought for him.

'You really didn't have to do this!" Harry exclaimed returning the clothing to the drawer.

"Nonsense Harry. This is your home now and we are here to take care of you," dad said earnestly.

Harry was silent while he nodded at them. I could tell he didn't trust his own voice from breaking if he were to speak. Dad and Remus smiled at each other before going to close the door.

"Good-night you two," they said.

They then closed the door and Harry and I were left alone.

"I can't believe any of this is real," Harry said with his back to me as he was still staring at the opened drawer full of clothing.

"We all love you Harry, we always have," I answered seeing Harry just nod again.

I took my own clothes and headed for the bathroom to get ready and give Harry a moment to himself. When I returned Harry was already in his bed and the light was turned out.

"Good-night Harry," I said as I climbed into bed.

"Good-night Marn," he answered rather sleepily.

Hearing the rhythmic breathing from Harry was quite soothing and after a few minutes, lulled me to sleep.

XXX

Christmas morning arrived a few days later as Harry shook me awake.

"Get up Marn!" I heard him say as I also felt the sun peeking through our window. "I can already smell Joss making breakfast," he said before he threw the door open, creating a draft.

"Warn me will you before you swing that door open," I said while sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

I grabbed my old robe before hastily tugging it on and followed Harry downstairs who was almost bouncing with excitement. We were greeted by Remus who was already sitting by the fire with a full tea pot and awaiting cups for each of us.

"I figured you might need some tea to warm up," he said as I eagerly poured Harry and I each a cup and sat down.

Harry eyed the tree which was full of presents. The four of us had actually gone into the woods the first day after we were back from school so Harry could partake in our tradition of cutting down a tree and decorating it. It had been a lovely, bright day which ended with the four of us making ornaments of popcorn strings and paper cut-outs before hanging them all up. Remus had also made us hot chocolate as we had sat around and admired our completed work.

"It's not a lot but we work with what we have," Remus said while he watched Harry look at the tree.

"It's more than enough," Harry exclaimed and sipped his tea.

Dad soon announced that breakfast was ready, inviting us up to the table. Dad had made a full English breakfast with all the fixings so we piled everything onto our plates and sat amicably while gazing out onto the hills which were covered in a fresh blanket of snow. When we were finished eating we then gathered around the tree. We had actually been to the local shops earlier in the week as well as Harry had insisted on wanting to buy some presents which dad eventually agreed to.

Harry was the first to hand his presents out to each of us so I opened mine to find a simple bracelet with the word sister engraved onto it. I was speechless as I bent over to hug Harry. I held him for a few moments while I thought of the strength of our new bond. I had never before realized I had missed Harry so much, having very little memory of our young childhood together, but ever since meeting him in September it was as if feeling a missing piece of my life click back into place. I was just relieved that Harry obviously felt the same way.

Harry also gave my dad and Remus each a framed picture of Harry and I which Hermione had taken with a muggle camera she had brought from home. It had been a candid shot from a day where we were all sitting together outside by the lake at the beginning of November, despite the autumn chill. Harry was sitting beside me with his arm around my shoulder as we laughed at something the twins had said. The picture showed how much we obviously cared about each other and also how protective Harry was already of me. You could tell in the way he had his arm and the manner in which he sat. I hadn't actually seen the picture yet but Harry had told me about it just before we headed for the cottage. Harry had just needed to pick up some frames from the local store which he did earlier on in the week.

Remus and dad were both speechless for a time while dad set the picture amongst the collection on the mantel. I knew Remus would either bring his to his own home or set it up in his room here where he had his own collection of photographs that didn't fit downstairs.

Harry then continued to pass presents from under the tree. He looked intriguingly at the cushy parcel addressed to him wrapped in brown parchment.

"This one is from Mrs. Weasley," he said questioningly as we nodded and he opened it to find a blue sweater adorned with a golden snitch.

I simultaneously opened my own orange sweater, much like the one I had opened last year, only slightly bigger. I smiled at the thought that Mrs. Weasley had obviously chosen the colour she felt suited me the most; one of which she could never make for her own family for risk of clashing horribly with all of their bright hair.

"This is brilliant," Harry exclaimed as he put it on over his pajamas.

The next ones passed around were from me. Each of them got a small package, not unlike the ones I had given them last year.

I watched as they all opened their respective packet at the same time to reveal their own seeds.

"I thought we could create a new family garden," I said while dad snapped his head up with a glistening look.

"Dad, that one is called Joss flower, while uncle's is silky lupine. Harry, I couldn't find a flower with your namesake so that one is a lily in respect for your mother," I added while watching tears form in his eyes.

"And I'll add some peonies from your garden Marnie," dad said.

My family all hugged me before my dad examined the seeds.

"Marnie, if I'm not mistaken these are red twin lilies you got Harry here," dad said while Harry and Remus looked at me with a smirk.

"Well Lily did have red hair," I countered but everyone just chuckled at me.

"It'll be a beautiful garden Marn," Harry said with his hand clasped in mine.

He then returned to the tree to retrieve more presents. After the ones from Remus and my father, plus a book from Hermione to Harry and some sweets from Ron to both of us, Harry retrieved the last present.

"This one isn't signed," Harry said while we all looked quizzically at the package.

Harry carefully opened it to show a very handsome cloak. But my father and Remus gasped at the sight of it.

"I thought it was lost!" Remus said while Harry and I looked at them in confusion.

"It was as far as I knew," dad added while we still had no idea what they were talking about.

Harry tried it on before I felt my eyebrows sore to the top of my head.

"Har- Harry, you- you're invisible!" I exclaimed causing Harry's head to shoot downwards to examine his body.

"How is this possible?" he asked extremely surprised.

"It was your father's. It was his invisibility cloak," dad answered sounding awestruck.

"We thought it was lost, we never found it after your parents passed," Remus continued.

"It belonged to my father?" Harry asked as a huge smile formed across his face.

"And it didn't say who it was from?" Remus asked as he took the tag to see if there were any clues.

"It just says use it well," Harry explained as both Remus and dad now looked over the tag together.

"I wonder who had it all this time…" dad asked in bewilderment.

"It doesn't really make any sense," Remus continued. "The only ones I could think of are maybe Kingsley Shacklebolt or Albus Dumbledore."

"Well in any case, that was James' and I'm glad to see it bestowed to you," Remus addressed Harry.

"As long as you don't use it for trouble,' my dad cautioned while Harry nodded and I tried to stifle my chuckle.

After we were finished with the presents we made our way upstairs with our things and got ready to visit the hospital. Once I re-entered the bedroom, having gotten dressed, Harry came up to me and took my hand.

"Don't be nervous Marnie, I know your mum is unwell but I still have to meet her," Harry said confidently causing me to smile and grab his hand in return.

We then made our way downstairs together and got into the car. Remus had been skeptical about apparating three people to London without having complications so they thought it best to drive. An hour into the city, we remained mostly quiet while we looked out over the snowy hills which were elegant and fragile looking under a plate of glass. When we finally made it to the city we filed into the hospital and up to the Spell Damage Ward.

We were walking up to my mother's room when I spotted Neville and his gran step out into the hall. I turned on my heel and looked at Harry.

"I should have told you," was all I said before he noticed Neville.

"Oh, hi Harry," Neville said nervously and Harry met him with a confused look.

"Neville's parents were the ones my mother found before she went to try and find your parents," I said watching Harry nod in understanding.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you here with Marnie," Neville added with a sad smile.

"I won't tell anyone Neville," Harry added which caused Neville to give a look of relief.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of you three, your parents and your mother are war heroes," Neville's gran said disapporvingly.

We nodded while Neville's gran put her hand on her grandson's shoulder. Remus and my father also started to usher us to the room as we bid Neville a happy Christmas. The four of us then entered the room which was adorned with a few paper snowflakes that the volunteers had probably made. My mother smiled at us from her bed surveying Remus, dad, and I as we filed in. Her eyes then landed on Harry and widened before she dawned a smile. She then raised her arm towards him and my father put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Lena would like you to go over to her," dad said while Harry nodded.

Harry walked over to my mother's bed and sat beside her as she moved over to make room for him. She was playing with some paper which she had folded up into what was probably supposed to be a flower, but it was hard to tell.

Harry received the gift graciously and pulled out his own gift from his pocket. It was a small angel ornament which had the word godmother etched onto it. My mother took it and inspected it intensely while her finger ran over the carved-out word. She then set it on her bedside table where there were many other trinkets having been set there previously.

We spent the rest of the afternoon there. Mum was unwilling to get up from her bed so we all sat around her and ate the Christmas pudding provided by the hospital. Dad at some point put on the radio since mum would usually hum along to the melody. I noticed after a while that my mother was indeed humming to the same Celestina Warbeck song I had heard last year at the Weasley's.

I've got a cauldron full of hot, strong love

It's a recipe so rare

There's no potion or elixir that

Could ever quite compare!

In the late afternoon my mother started to fall asleep so we took our leave after bidding her a happy Christmas. Harry was the last to give her a hug as she finished by holding his face in her hands. Without a word she let go and laid back down on her pillow. We then filed out and headed back for the car. We were all silent but I took Harry's hand in mine as we walked out. The car ride was similar in silence during the hour drive home, although it was a heavier silence than before.

Once we got home Harry and I went up to our room while dad and Remus set off to make dinner. We each sat on our own beds while I watched Harry from across the room. He had been silent and somewhat hard to read since we had left the hospital and although it had never been easy seeing my mother, I had always been used to her condition. This was all brand-new for Harry.

"She was just trying to save my parents," Harry finally said as I continued to watch him.

"Yes," I answered plainly.

"We were all a family and she was just trying to save them," Harry went on and I heard the hitch in his voice.

I then went over to his bed and sat down beside him. I put my arms over him which inevitably caused him to break down. I couldn't imagine going your whole life thinking your parents died in a car crash only to find out the more complicated truth a decade later which also came with the reality of your insane god-mother. It was a lot for an eleven-year-old to chew on. We sat in silence for a long time as I gently rocked Harry back-and-forth and he cried into my shoulder. I wondered if he had ever broken down about his parents before, or even been able to.

After a while Harry sat up and wiped his eyes.

"No one will ever split this family up again," he said more confidently than I had expected from him.

"When Voldemort comes back no one will take this family from us," he said causing me to unintentionally shudder at the name.

I inwardly chastised myself for the involuntary reflex.

"You believe he will?" I asked, not having known Harry's opinion on the matter.

"All three of you believe it, so that's good enough for me," he said confidently.

We then sat in silence for a moment longer before I spotted the sweets Ron had given to both Harry and me.

"Care for a chocolate frog to brighten the mood? Remus always says chocolate is the best cure," I said as Harry took the frog I was offering.

We each unwrapped our candy and quickly ate the frogs before they could hop away.

"Who did you get?" Harry asked, having finished his candy before me.

"Helga Hufflepuff," I said as I passed my card over to him.

Harry then turned his card to reveal Albus Dumbledore.

"I've already got this one," he said while I looked inquisitively at the headmaster's portrait.

"What does his caption say? Mine just talks about her being a founder of the school," I said while I went to file it away with my other cards.

"Oh, it just talks about his positions and…" he cut off but continued staring at the card intently.

"Something wrong?" I asked, looking at Harry while not understanding his severe interest in the collectable card.

"Oh nothing, it just talks a little more about the Wizengamot," he said unconvincingly.

But before I could ask anything further Remus called us for dinner. Harry dropped the card into his trunk and walked out of the room heading for downstairs. While watching Harry vacate the room I quickly picked up the card and scanned to the bottom.

'Nicholas Flammel', I thought to myself. 'I wonder who that could be. And why would Harry be so interested?'

I pondered this as I followed after Harry towards the kitchen. I knew Harry had been pretty secretive with Ron and Hermione since Snape had tried to kill him, but I had no idea what this could possibly have to do with a colleague of Dumbledore who was known for possessing the philosopher's stone.

But my train of thought was soon interrupted as we all sat down together and finally started to talk amicably once again. It had been an emotional day which had left us all drained, however it had still been one of the best days of my life. It had been incredibly meaningful to share Christmas with Harry as well as have him meet his god-mum which I think further solidified his integration into our family. Now we just finished the day off with light chatter and excellent food, although not our traditional glazed goose; that was to be saved for New Year's Eve which we had already invited Mr. Lovegood and Luna to attend.


	22. The Mirror

The rest of our break was wonderful as Harry settled in at the cottage and got to experience our quiet way of life. Harry seemed very relaxed to just sit around the house and have the freedom to do whatever he pleased, which was mostly talk with Remus and my dad.

New Year's Eve was also an exciting event, despite us not being at the Weasley's. Harry got to officially meet Luna when the three of us hung out, and although I wasn't dancing around our sitting room like I had at the Weasley's a year prior, we still had an exciting time. We spent the night drinking sweet-cranberry tea made from Mr. Lovegood' garden and discussing our favourite classes at Hogwarts among other topics. Harry and Luna also became well acquainted and bonded over being in the same year and the trivialities of what that entailed. Harry didn't even seem phased by Luna's bluntness or eccentric nature which made me very happy; especially since I knew Luna was having some difficulties with the students from their year.

When we arrived back at Hogwarts a few days later however, it was only to be harangued by the Weasley's who had not faired very well being left alone in the castle. So, much like they had when we left, the Weasley's were waiting for us in the front hallway when we arrived along with all the other students off the train.

"Have a happy Christmas Marnie?" George asked after spotting me and enveloping me into a hug.

'Quit hogging her will yah" I heard Fred exclaim from behind his twin.

Fred then took me by the wrist and brought me into his own embrace which lasted slightly longer than George's did.

"Jeez, I was only gone less than two weeks," I said while the twins both escorted me to the Great Hall for supper.

"Tell us everything," they both said as we sat down with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of our friends who we had sat with on the train back.

"Miss us did yah Fred?" Lee asked with a grin while he had already started piling food onto his plate.

"This place seems almost haunted when everyone isn't here," Fred said while George nodded.

"Well there are ghosts," I said smartly but this only prompted the twins to give me rueful looks.

"And having only Ron and Percy for company isn't much fun either," George added, causing Ron to aim some peas from his spoon towards his brother.

"Ronald!" Hermione chastised when some missed their mark and landed in her hair.

"We did aim some snowballs at Professor Quirrell as he was strolling the grounds though," Fred said triumphantly while Hermione and Angelina gasped in horror.

"Calm down, he didn't figure out it was us; we ran away before he even turned around," George explained while I just shook my head.

"Did you get my sweets Marnie?" Ron asked, interrupting his brothers' anecdote, much to George's annoyance.

"Yes, we ate most of the chocolate frogs already. It was really kind of you Ron," I said while I noticed the youngest brother blush.

"That reminds me," Harry whispered which caused Ron and Hermione to bow their heads towards him.

I tried to listen to their conversation but Lee and George were too busy laughing at something Fred had said to be able to hear anything else.

We later left the feast after having overstuffed our stomachs and meandered our way back to the common room. The twins were ahead of me slightly as they were trying to enchant some part of Ron's clothing as a prank. I hadn't had the energy to hear the plan or put sufficient effort into stopping their antics against Ron.

"Hey Marnie," Harry said as he fell back to walk beside me so that it was just the two of us.

"I was wondering if you would want to take the first midnight walk with me under my dad's cloak tonight?" he asked with a grin.

"I would have thought you would have invited Hermione or Ron," I said.

"I haven't even told them about it yet, although I will soon. But I thought it would be something for my first venture to be with my sister," he said with a smile.

"That sounds brilliant," I answered while I felt some energy resurface.

So, we all sat in the common room while Harry and I waited for everyone to else to go to sleep. I sat with the twins reading a new book about magical herbicides while Harry sat conversing secretively with Hermione and Ron. I watched them from behind my book while I thought of ways to get Harry to tell me what was going on without him trying to protect me from whatever he thought I needed protecting from. I had noticed him talking in hushed tones with Ron and Hermione quite often leading up to the Christmas break, and it seemed to be continuing.

About an hour later, the girls were the first ones to retreat to our dorm while I told them I would follow later on. Lee was next while I also saw Hermione retire to the first-year dorm around the same time. It then came down to the Weasley's who we had to outwait. The twins hadn't stopped filling me on their time while I was away, explaining new schemes they were planning and all the new things they had discovered. Apparently they had snuck out with the map every night over the holiday. But, as I sat with my book, they eventually bid me goodnight and went upstairs. Ron soon followed and it was just me and Harry. He already had the cloak stashed under his school robes which made it easier to escape. Since no one was left in the common room, we put the cloak on inside before leaving through the portrait.

We walked silently through the halls as I realized Harry had probably never been out after curfew in the castle. We went up to the Astronomy Tower before returning down and walked back towards the Divination Tower on the other side of the castle. However, without the map, the darkened halls were slightly unfamiliar and we eventually got lost. While looking around we suddenly came to a dead-end hallway which had us opening doors as we sought an exit. Behind one door which looked like all the other classroom doors we had opened; we found a fairly larger room which seemed the most promising to find a way out. However, the almost empty room had a featured mirror right in the center.

"Do you think we will show up in the mirror?" Harry asked curiously.

We headed towards it and were both suddenly shocked when we saw an image reflected in the mirror while under the cloak; but it was something entirely different than ourselves. Impossibly, there was a different person in the mirror which caused us both to gasp out loud and stumble away from the mirror.

"Wait, it's…" I said as I stood from under the cloak and slowly approached the mysterious mirror.

I could only stand in shock and silence while I felt hot tears spring to my eyes.

"Marnie, I don't understand," Harry said while I felt him step beside me in the same amount of awe and bewilderment.

"Do you see her Harry?" was all I could ask.

"Yea," he whispered. "I can see both of them," he finished while I furrowed my brow.

"Both of them?" I asked.

"Yea, they're my parents Marn, aren't they?" he asked while I tried to make sense of what he was saying.

"I only see my mum Harry. And she's… she's looking at me, really looking at me Harry. Like I'm her daughter and not just a stranger," I said while I felt Harry slip his hand into mine.

"That's wonderful Marn. I see my parents. They're standing on either side of us. And they're smiling, just like we're a family portrait," he said quietly while I tightened my grip in his hand.

"What does this mean Harry? I don't understand how this is possible," I said.

"I don't know Marnie. But there are all sorts of complex magic. Like your necklace for example," he stated while I reached up to hold the ruby in my hand.

"But does it do anything besides show us our wishes?" I asked, hearing the slight desperation in my voice.

"I don't know," was all he said.

We stood there silently for an indeterminate amount of time before we eventually decided to leave. We walked back under the cloak in silence, too deep in thought to have anything constructive enough to say to one another. It was only when we reached the portrait again and stepped into the common room that we took off the cloak and acknowledged each other.

"Goodnight Marnie," was all Harry said while he brought me into a tight embrace that lasted a few moments.

"Goodnight Harry," I replied before kissing his cheek and turned towards the girl's staircase.

That night's sleep did not come easily as I stared up at the ceiling and only thought of the look in my mother's eyes as she looked between Harry and me. She had a loving smile and held her arms out towards us, although Harry hadn't been able to see it. But the thing that was truly keeping me awake was that look, the look of recognition in her eyes that I had never seen. It was something that I had obviously always wanted and now that I had seen some variation of it, my heart hurt and rejoiced at the same time. It was a long time later that I did finally manage to drift off into a fitful sleep.

"Lena!" I heard from behind me as I turned around on instinct.

"Lena, you will never in a million years guess what just happened!" the red-headed girl said as she caught up to me; to whom I knew was Lily.

"James Potter asked you out," my voice answered without me even thinking about it.

The girl gasped in response.

"How in the name of Merlin did you guess that?" Lily asked while her cheeks turned scarlet to match her hair.

"Lily, anyone could have guessed that! The boy is smitten with you," I continued to say in that hollow voice. "The real question is what did you say in return?" I continued but I already knew the answer.

"Well, I may have said yes this time," Lily replied timidly before turning her eyes straight towards mine. "You know, he's pretty mature now and I threatened him against anymore pranks on Sev," she said with more determination.

"Well it's about time you accepted that boy. We were expecting he would implode if you didn't say yes this year," I continued while Lily swatted my shoulder.

I instinctively put my hand up to the place she had hit me since I could actually feel the residual impact from her swat.

"So, Lena," Lily said cheekily. "Now that I've said yes to James, what are you going to do about S-"

Before Lily could finish her question I was abruptly woken up by Ange who was shaking my shoulders.

"Marnie! You overslept, we're going to be late for class," she said while throwing my robes at me.

I hastily got up without giving my dream any more thought. And by the time we finally got to class I had a hard time focusing on the lesson or anything at all. My mind kept drifting back towards that mirror and the look on my mother's face. It was like the rest of the day went by in a trance since it was almost impossible to focus and the minutes seemed to drag on in an infinite concession of blurry moments.

By the time dinner was over and we were finally back up in the common room I could only stare at the opened book in front of me without actually reading it.

"Hey Fred, I think I forgot my favouite sleeping clothes in your guys' dorm, can I go up and get it?" I asked while Fred looked questioningly back at George before turning back to me.

"Of course Hare," he answered before I quickly got up and headed for their dorm.

"Forge, did Hare leave something in our dorm?" Fred asked as Marnie retreated for the stairs.

"No, I don't think so Gred," the other answered while they both stared at the staircase where Marnie had just run up.

After I returned from the boy's dorm I said quick good nights before heading upstairs and feigning sleep until the girls all came up and actually fell asleep about an hour later. I then snuck downstairs with the map and escaped through the portrait hole towards the room with the mirror.

When I finally entered the room I quickly approached the enchanted mirror and took a seat in front of it. After a while, my mother did the same and we sat facing each other while she remained smiling and reaching out towards me. I could never touch her or hear any words but the image always brought me to tears as my heart ached for it to be a reality. But as much as it hurt to be denied this actual reality, I found I couldn't pry myself away. After a few hours I noticed Harry and Ron approaching on the map and made my way out via the back-exit Harry and I had initially been searching for when we originally found the room. I didn't want to be spotted by Harry or especially Ron and have to explain myself, so I silently retreated to my dorm.

This became my routine every night after dinner as I would tell my friends I was going to the library or to study somewhere so I would get more time with my mother before Harry would eventually show up. I would sit in front of the mirror for hours and just watch as my mother and I sat together in a friendly silence; although I yearned to hear her speak.

On the fifth night I stayed longer than I had all week since Harry hadn't shown up yet.

"Ah, you and Harry are more alike than I would have anticipated, especially since you are not in fact related by blood," I heard the headmaster's voice say from behind me.

I whirled around in utter surprise since I hadn't seen his name approach on the map.

"This is the fifth night in a row you have come back here Marnie, and I must say I am concerned for your attachment to the mirror," Dumbledore said with a frown.

My eyes wandered to the floor as I felt I had been caught somewhere between a lie and a secret.

"You must know what the mirror does by now?" Dumbledore asked while I slowly turned my eyes back up to meet his which were surprisingly still twinkling.

"Umm, it shows us our wish," I said lamely as it was what Harry had called it.

"Yes, but only our most deep and desperate desire," he said seriously.

"That's why Harry saw his parents," I said while Dumbledore nodded.

"I will assume that you see some variation of Lena in your reflection," the headmaster continued, causing me to give him a small nod in return.

He then paused while gazing down at me.

"Marnie, I must ask that you never go looking for this mirror again," he finally said while I looked up at him with a desperate expression before he continued. "Many people have wasted away in front of this mirror as it is easy to become ensnared by the past and our own desperations," he continued while I thought of how taken I had become by the mirror.

"Promise me Marnie, that you will never go searching for this mirror again, and to know that it is being moved from this location tomorrow," he finished while looking at me expectantly.

"I promise," I said after a moment and finally felt my exhaustion set in.

My entrancement with the mirror over the last week had taken most of my energy and had kept me from properly sleeping.

"Shall I escort you back to the Gryffindor common room?" he asked while I nodded.

"Will I lose house points for this?" I asked, still feeling embarrassed for having been caught.

"I think the lesson of the mirror is difficult enough for a fourteen-year-old without having to worry about house points," he said with a small smile.

When we arrived at the common room he waved me goodbye before I entered. I then immediately changed my clothes and headed for the boy's dorm where I quietly put the map back in Fred's trunk before crawling into his bed.

"Hare?" Fred asked sleepily while I snuggled in beside him. "Is er'ything 'right?"

"It is now," was all I said while he put his arm over my body.

In two minutes flat I was fast asleep.


	23. Bad Dreams

Much like I had every night that week, I was sitting at home at our dining table, watching a small television which sat on the kitchen counter with an antenna. I was watching the news and felt my stomach tie into knots as I held my breath, waiting for what I knew by now was inevitable. I had seen the same news broadcast every night as the broadcaster from the muggle station announced that there was a dead man found inside his home when his family returned from staying out of town for the night. The thirty-seven-year-old man had been in perfect health and authorities were yet to discover a cause of death.

Like clockwork I then stood rather hurriedly from the table and ran to the front closet to collect my overcoat.

"Joss, this is it!" I exclaimed as I noticed my dad descend the stairs slowly with a rather sullen expression.

"Joss, this is what we have been waiting for. This is the first outright murder of a muggle instead of a disappearance. We have to act quickly," I said, just as I had all the nights before.

"I know," was all my father said as his face hardly hid the anxiety he was feeling.

But before I could say anything else, a baby starts crying from upstairs and my father lets out a sigh. He turns and starts ascending the stairs before pausing to look over his shoulder.

"Come back to us Lena," he whispered as I feel my own tears form and can only nod.

Then he starts up the stairs again and I rush out the door. Once I am out on the drive I turn my foot on the spot where I'm standing and apparate to a flat in London. I knock a particular rhythm on the door and wait to hear a shuffling of feet approach. After hearing a number of locks click out of place the door opens to reveal the same red-headed man who I always mistake for Fred.

"What were my last words to you when I graduated Hogwarts?" the red head asked, being the same question as always.

"You're at a crossroads Lena; follow your own heart to where you want to be and choose so you have no regrets," I whisper while feeling my cheeks blush, but I never know why.

The man gives me a small smile while opening the path through the doorway to allow me entrance. Through the small hallway it opens up to a large circular table which takes up the entire room. I survey the people who are already here and see only James Potter and Sirius Black. They both stand up as James strides over to give me a hug.

"I told you Lena would be the first one to show," James says as he turns back to look at Sirius.

"Oh, but I never doubted that James," was his answer as he stares at me, giving me a smile and extending his hand to shake mine.

We are then interrupted by another knock at the door and Dumbledore, along with several other of my mother's old classmates, file into the room. I see James straighten his posture as Lily Evans enters the room, even though they're already dating, which makes me smile as she goes to sit on his other side. Alice and Frank also enter as well as a few others I don't readily recognize. I am seated between the two red heads who always stunningly remind me of Fred and George and wait only a few moments for the meeting to begin.

"As you've all undoubtedly seen, the Death Eaters have indeed started killing muggles more openly, just as we feared," Dumbledore says while we all solemnly nod our heads.

"I think it is now more than sufficient to assume that the Death Eater numbers are nearly double from when they began and this will only cause more brazen acts of violence against not only muggles, but muggleborns, squibs and the like," the headmaster continued while looking between Lily and me with a sad expression.

"With that being said, our surveillance and covert missions will remain as planned but only executed with at least one other Order member. Protective charms over all houses are also encouraged while remaining discreet in your everyday lives," Dumbledore paused in a heavy silence as we all thought about what this meant for our families.

I clutched my amber necklace in my hand.

"It has also come to my attention that James and Sirius have intel on Antonin Dolohov and a few other members who may be responsible for the most recent muggle killing. It is my advisement that we send out some members to track their movements as they will undoubtedly be celebrating this most recent act and will be invariably reckless with their actions," he continued while I saw Potter and Black nod in agreement.

"Fabian and I will be more than happy to accompany James and Sirius to bring them support and report back tomorrow at our regular meeting," the red head beside me stated while I suppressed my gasp of worry.

"Alright, that will be adequate, however it is suspected that more Death Eaters may show up at their rendezvous," Dumbledore continued.

After a brief pause I raised my hand.

"I'll accompany them," I said as Dumbledore only nodded.

"Alright then, meeting dismissed. We will reconvene tomorrow to discuss what you all find this evening," he ended before we all filed out.

My vision started to cloud as it normally did at this point but instead of waking up in my bed, I was now following James, Sirius, Fabian and Gideon to a secluded pub in the middle of a rural setting. We were keeping a distance, trying to remain in the foliage while listening to the boisterous conversation of the men in the distance.

"Congratulations Antonin," I heard one say.

"The Dark Lord will be most impressed," another boasted.

We were all sitting in the dark as I took in my surroundings. As I looked at the tavern and its scenery I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as it became nauseatingly familiar; a setting from another one of my dreams. This is where Gideon and Fabian died.

As if on cue two men who were walking to the tavern spotted us and ambushed from behind while casting the Dark Mark up into the air to summon the others from inside. Fabian and Gideon charged forward, away from our initial spot while James and Sirius tried to circle around and provide cover. However, I realized I couldn't move. Gideon must have put a charm on me to prevent me from moving.

I started frantically trying to undo the sticking charm, but it was too late. Gideon and Fabian were surrounded by at least five Death Eaters.

"No," I cried in my own voice instead of my mother's. "I don't want to see this again!" I continued crying as I felt myself become unstuck by the charm and went rushing towards the bodies of my friends.

Their likeness to Fred and George was eerily similar as I bent down over their bodies. That's when I felt the hand on my shoulder again.

"Lena, we have to go," it coaxed hastily while I could also hear the pain in their voice.

This time I knew the voice belonged to Sirius Black.

"But they are my best friends," I yelled back defiantly as I then heard James coming over and grabbed onto my other shoulder.

"The pub is still filled Lena. We only have a few moments until they realize we are here. We need to leave now!" Sirius said almost angrily as he tugged on my arm and brought me to a standing position.

When I stood up I felt my vision going blurry again. Moments later I was transported out of the hideous site where my mother's friends had died into my four-poster bed at Hogwarts.

I was now looking up at Angelina's concerned face as I tried to catch my breath.

"Marnie, you were crying in your sleep," she said in a worried tone.

I sat up and looked around the dorm.

"Don't worry, they're still asleep," Ange assured as I looked over at Katie and Alicia's sleeping silhouettes in the early sun.

I nodded my head before I threw back the covers and got up to head towards the lavatory.

"They're getting worse Marne," Ange said anxiously before I stopped and turned back to face her.

"I know," I whispered while staring at my friend who I knew I had been worrying over the past few weeks.

"I wish there was something I could do for you," she continued.

"I know," I answered again as she nodded.

"Do Fred and George know?" she asked and this time I shook my head.

Ange took a moment.

"Does Harry know?"

I shook my head again. Ange pursed her lips.

"I think you should at least tell one of them. I think maybe they would know better than me on how to make these nightmares stop. You've had one every night for the past two weeks," she stated with concern in her voice.

"Okay, I'll think about it," I promised.

Twenty minutes later I came out of the lavatory after having gotten ready to see that Katie and Alicia were awake.

"Excited to finally go to Hogsmeade?" Alicia asked while I smiled and nodded.

"I can't believe you missed it in the fall!" Katie exclaimed, causing me to give her an incredulous look.

"Well it's not like I asked to be attacked by a troll," I said but Katie just shrugged.

I threw my pillow at her.

"Well, we will take you to all the cool places!" Alicia said and they started to get ready.

Afterwards we met the boys down in the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Ready for Hogsmeade Hare?" Fred asked when I sat beside him.

I nodded in response while I scooped some porridge into my bowl.

"Sleep alright Marnie?" George asked who was sitting across from me, making me pause.

"A little restless was all," I answered.

I didn't notice the meaningful look Ange gave him who was sitting on the other side of Fred.

"Well alright, just as long as you're okay," he said while I nodded at him.

George shared a look with his twin while I started to talk with Lee who started talking to me about Zonko's Joke Shop.

"I can't believe the three jokesters of Gryffindor haven't been to Zonko's yet!" Lee exclaimed while I gave him a rueful look.

"Like I told Katie this morning, it's not like I was intentionally knocked out by a troll!" I exclaimed but Lee just shrugged.

"The two of you are quite the pair," I said and noticed Lee blush slightly.

After about fifteen minutes had passed the food cleared from the table and my friends and I all stood up to meet by the front door so we could head out for Hogsmeade. We passed by Harry and his friends who were all still sitting at the table.

"What would you like from Honeydukes?" I asked him.

"I don't need anything," was all he answered while I saw Ron nudge him in the stomach.

"I know you don't need anything but I'm going to bring you back something regardless and I know you wouldn't want their famous blood pops now would you?" I asked while Harry made a disgusted face.

"Alright, I would like to try Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Ron says they're a riot," he chucked so I agreed I would bring some back.

Just then Percy walked by to usher us to the front door.

"Hey Marnie, how do you know about the Blood Pops? They're only exclusively sold at Honeydukes," he asked while I thought of a good excuse.

"Oh, Ange told me about them," I answered casually and saw her turn around in front of us with a staggered expression.

I shook my head discreetly to indicate to not say a word. She just rolled her eyes.

Percy thankfully didn't question me any further as we all congregated at the front of the school and the twins and I handed over our permission slips. Shortly thereafter, the seven of us were heading towards Hogsmeade. I was extremely excited, despite having been to the village before. But train rides and nighttime treks out of the castle couldn't really compare to actually experiencing the shops with my friends.

Ange and Katie were already pulling me towards Honeydukes when the shops came into view. The atmosphere in the sweet shop was wildly different than our nighttime ventures. Despite us having just gotten there, the shop was already filled with students stocking up on their candy supply. I made my way to collect Harry's beans, while also grabbing myself more chocolate frogs and also trying some Glacial Snowflakes. In the end it proved difficult to pry Lee away from all the sweets, but we coaxed him out by promising to go to Zonko's Joke Shop next.

I was amazed as soon as I walked through the door. There was an amass of products lining every single wall, most of which I had never seen before. It was then the twins turn to grab onto my arms as they pulled me towards the closest merchandise. It was fantastic to witness and experience the joke shop with the twins when it was the first time any of us had seen anything like it before. Sure, there were a few popular prank items sold in various shops in Diagon Alley, but there wasn't a store catered to the craft. This was almost like entering a different dimension, one that superseded anything I could have dreamt about.

George then pulled me to look at the fanged flyers while Fred was beside us looking at some stink pellets; apparently more potent than dung bombs. We were all in awe of the possibilities.

"You have to come see the Nose-Biting Teacups!" Lee shouted as he came up behind us.

We then turned to follow Lee as he led us to the opposite end of the store. All-in-all we spent over an hour looking at all the products, much to the girls' dismay. They weren't all that into pranks like we were, especially since sometimes they were on the receiving end when we got bored.

"Marnie you have to try butter beer!" Angelina said as she finally coaxed me out of the shop.

"Alright, that sounds great!" I said as I went to buy a few items I felt were obligatory to add to my prank stock.

After that the seven of us filed out and headed for The Three Broomsticks where we ended up finding a large booth while Lee and Katie went to fetch the refreshments. Minutes later they came carrying some of the drinks while Alicia went to go help with the rest. Katie set mine down in front of me which looked caramel in colour and smelt like hot toffee. After inspecting the new drink, I went for my first sip with little trepidation. It was like hot caramel and pumpkin spice warming my entire body; much like the effect of melted butter.

"This is brilliant!" I exclaimed with a large smile on my face.

"Can't believe we've been missing out all this time!" George added while we all raised our glasses in a celebratory toast.

"So guys, glad you finally made it to Hogsmeade?" Alicia asked while George hid a mischievous grin.

It technically wasn't our first time…

"Well it's not like we were going to leave Hare before," Fred said matter-of-factly while I turned to stare at him in surprise by his frank statement.

"Yea, but we figure now Marnie owes us some more butter beer since we had to wait a whole three months to try it after everyone else," George added with a smirk.

I then turned my attention to him and rolled my eyes.

"Oh, I guess you're right," I said while standing up.

Fred went to object but George covered his mouth so to not lose out on a free drink from their best friend.

"Hey Ange," Fred whispered when Marnie was safely out of earshot. "How's Marnie been sleeping?"

"Erm- like she said, a little restless," Ange covered while wanting to be honest with the twins but didn't feel like it was her place if Marnie was seemingly hiding it from everyone.

"Alright, if you say so," was all Fred answered when both of them knew there was something more.

Marnie then came back with three more butter beers while Lee complained that he didn't get a free drink.

"Oi, you had at least three last time we were here! You didn't miss out like Fred and George," Katie exclaimed but Lee just sighed.

The rest of the day was spent talking around the table at The Three Broomsticks while they all enjoyed their butter beers and idle chatter. It was only when the sun began to sink in the west that the seven friends finally decided to head back to the castle in time for supper.

In the Great Hall Marnie spotted Harry and went over to give him his sweets before rejoining her friends. However, Ron insisted on moving towards them and asking them all about Hogsmeade and what to look forward to.

"I can't believe we have to wait two more years!" Ron said in anguish.

"Come off it Ron, we all waited the same amount of time as you," George said as he rolled his eyes at his brother's wallowing.

"Alright, well I think I'm going to call it a night," I said as I started to feel the effects of not sleeping over the past few weeks and the added exertion from today.

I noticed Harry and my friends look at me with worried expressions but no one said anything. So I got up from the table and headed back for the Gryffindor Tower. When I was finally in my dorm and had switched out of my robes, I fell onto my bed and was thankfully met with sleep moments later.

I was now running down a quaint road in the middle of the night. I felt the panic in my chest and the tears running down my face. I had to make it there in time. Wherever there was. But, like always, I stopped at the walkway of where I had obviously been heading and felt my breath sharply intake. The Dark Mark was over top of the house I had been running towards and my blood went cold. I was surprised I couldn't see my own breath. I then ran towards the door and opened it without any regard or pause for my own safety. In the den, which was off the front hall, I let out a cry of startled anguish as I saw Harry- no James- Potter laying too still on the floor with his outstretched wand in his hand. His eyes were open, but unblinking as I couldn't hold back the sobs of losing my dear friend, my brother.

But then I heard what I thought were footsteps descending the stairs which gave me a glimmer of hope.

"Lily," I sobbed as I stood up and went to the stairs only to be confronted by a cloaked figure which definitely did not resemble anything like a man, or even a human.

"Voldemort," I said as I saw the weakened figure head towards me as I prepared for the worst.

But the figure turned to mist as it approached and went straight through me instead. It was a terrifying experience that made me start screaming. I couldn't stop even as I felt someone shaking my body. This only made it worse as there was no one in front of me.

It was then that I finally opened my eyes.

"Marnie!" a girl yelled as I took in my surroundings and realized Hermione Granger was beside me and had her hands on my shoulders.

"'Ermione?" I asked in a raspy voice.

I coughed to try and clear my throat.

"I'm sorry Marnie," I heard Ange say from behind her as I turned my attention and saw tears in my friend's eyes.

"Angelina came and got Harry and the twins when you wouldn't stop screaming in your sleep. They all sent me upstairs to help Angelina wake you," Hermione explained while I just nodded.

"I'm sorry Marnie, I know you didn't want to tell anyone about the nightmares but you just wouldn't stop screaming. I tried to wake you for a good minute but you wouldn't wake up. It was terrifying so I ran down and got the twins who already knew they couldn't ascend the stairs. By that time Harry came over and I explained things to him. He immediately told Hermione to go up with me and now here we are," Ange explained quickly.

"It's okay Ange," I assured as I watched her expel a sigh of relief.

"Well, you definitely don't have to tell me what's going on," Hermione said in a wary tone. "But, I'm afraid you will have to come down and see the twins and Harry. They're pretty beside themselves with worry," Hermione finished while I nodded again.

"I guess I better get this over with," I said while Ange offered me her hand to stand up.

I was in my t-shirt and sweatpants, so I didn't bother changing.

The three boys were pacing at the foot of the staircase when I came down and bombarded me when I descended.

"Hare!" Fred shouted.

Angelina and Hermione were following close behind and chastised them to give me some room. They then led me to a vacant couch off to the side where we all sat down and remained quiet for a few drawn out moments.

"Are these the same dreams Hare?" Fred asked seriously, which also broke the silence.

I knew what he meant since the twins were the only ones who knew about the dreams I had about me being my mother.

"Sort of," I whispered. "They're the same idea but different memories," I said while I shuddered.

"What are they talking about Marnie?" Harry asked anxiously while I let out a sigh.

"I guess it's time I told you," I said while the others held their breath. "I dream about my mother. I mean her memories, I guess. It's hard to explain but I am always her in the dreams and see events from her past. I hear her voice come out of my mouth and I see all the people she was friends with," I said while not able to look anyone in the eye.

"Do you see my parents?" Harry asked causing my breath to get caught in my throat.

"They're hardly ever good memories," I said, not being able to answer his question directly.

Especially not after the one tonight. I saw Harry nod and lower his gaze sadly.

"Why were you screaming Marnie?" Ange asked worriedly.

"I saw him," I said while I started to shake.

"Who did you see Marnie?" George asked while he put his hand over mine.

"Voldemort," I whispered while everyone else gasped in horror.

"You mean Lena saw him!" Harry shouted but the others all told him to hush.

I only nodded while both twins put their arms over my shoulders. We sat there in silence for another few drawn out moments.

"How long have you been having these dreams Marnie?" Harry asked finally.

"I don't know exactly. I've always had weird dreams about my mother and her becoming insane. But they got more vivid when I came to school," I explained.

"Three years!" Harry exclaimed again while the other shushed him again. "Does Joss know?"

"No, I've never told him," I answered.

"But you're seeing Lena's memories! This must mean something!" Harry continued while the other four looked at me.

"Marnie, if I can say something," Hermione posited gently. "I've read about occlumency and other related topics, and this may be your mother communicating with you."

"Maybe, but don't you have to be in the same room as the person?" Angelina asked.

"Not necessarily. Especially if there is some sort of magical binding agent," Hermione continued.

"My mother is insane Hermione, she doesn't have any memories left," I said simply.

"Well whatever is going on Marnie, we need to figure this out," Harry interjected.

"I think it's up to Marnie to decide there mate," George said while I squeezed his hand in gratitude.

"Well, the nightmares have been getting worse, so I wouldn't mind maybe trying to figure it out," I admitted honestly. "But we don't tell my dad or Remus," I added while Harry sighed.

"Okay Marnie," Harry said and the others nodded enthusiastically.

"We won't tell anyone else without your permission Marnie," Hermione added with the others agreeing.

"Want to go back to bed?" Angelina offered but I shook my head.

"I don't think I can," I said and shivered slightly.

The image of a ghost-like Voldemort passing through my body was beyond disturbing and mortally terrifying.

"Come on Hare," Fred offered his hand as he stood up.

I didn't see Harry go to object but Hermione elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a pointed look. The twins escorted me to their dorm where we pushed the beds together and withdrew the curtains. It was still too early for Lee or Kenneth to be in the dorm yet. The three of us laid down beside each other with me in the middle.

"Have we ever told you about the Unbreakable Vow we almost got Ron to perform when we were younger?" George asked.

"Yea, but tell me again," I answered as I stared up at the ceiling and listened to my best friends tell me goofy stories from their childhood.

Hours later, after Lee and Kenneth had come in and fallen asleep, I eventually heard George drift off. But Fred stayed awake beside me as we just held hands and stared up. He stroked the back of my hand which did finally make me feel soothed and relaxed me enough to finally put me to sleep.

Fred smiled back at his sleeping friend's figure and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead while he watched her sleep for a few minutes. He knew she was finally relaxed by the sounds of her soft breathing and the calm expression on her face. He knew Marnie still kept secrets from everyone but he and George had learned long ago to give her time and to just always be there for her when it got to be too much.

As he laid there staring at his friend he couldn't help but notice the flutter in his own stomach and the ease he felt as he watched Marnie sleep. Shaking his head, he finally rolled over and fell asleep to the rhythm of her breathing, not understanding why it felt like a couple of fairies were dancing in his stomach.


	24. Sleeping Draught

The rest of the winter months rolled by with the six friends trying to decipher the cause for Marnie's dreams. Hermione had been pretty keen on telling Professor McGonagall while Harry had suggested confiding to the headmaster, but Marnie was adamant about remaining quiet. Fred and George stood by her decision but worried whether it was the right one, especially when the nightmares had remained fairly constant. It wasn't at all surprising now for Marnie to crawl into the twins' beds in the middle of the night at least twice a week. In preparation, George and Fred permanently left their beds together to have enough room for Marnie to crawl in between them. Harry continued to ignore the fact that his non-biological sister spent many of her nights in the beds of non-familial boys only because he knew Marnie got more sleep that way.

Marnie and the twins had also picked up more on Harry, Ron and Hermione's suspicious behavior and tried to piece it together when they weren't studying or the twins weren't preparing for quidditch. Their second match was fast approaching which made Marnie even more anxious than she already felt. With Snape out to murder Harry and Voldemort haunting her dreams; sleep was almost a hopeless feat at this point. It was only heightened when Harry begrudgingly told them Snape would be refereeing the upcoming match.

"You can't be serious!" I exclaimed as Harry told us one night in the common room. "I knew we should have told Dumbledore about Snape," I continued while Hermione nodded in agreeance.

"We've been over this Marnie, we agreed he wouldn't believe us without proof," Harry explained while it was Ron's turn to nod along.

"Yea, but I don't want your dead body to be the proof!" I exclaimed causing Fred to put his hand over mine.

"Calm down Hare, you know Georgie and I won't let anything happen to Harry," he said while I reluctantly nodded.

It wasn't that I didn't believe him, since they had proven they would look out for Harry during the last game. But two third years up against a schoolteacher, the odds weren't exactly stacked in their favour.

"It'll be alright Marnie," Hermione encouraged with a slight smile.

I looked at her face and nodded in a sudden wave of confidence. But before I could say anything about my forming plan Neville literally hopped into the common room with his legs stuck together from a binding jinx.

"What happened Neville?" I exclaimed as Hermione and I approached him.

"Malfoy," he answered nervously, Hermione quickly reversing the spell.

"Need me to go after him?" I offered angrily since I knew Draco Malfoy had been targeting Neville all year.

"No, I don't want to cause any more trouble," he answered timidly.

"You need to stand up for yourself!" I encouraged, putting my hand on his shoulder.

Harry then came up to us and offered Neville a chocolate frog.

"You're always going to be ten times the wizard Malfoy will ever be," Harry said but Neville only nodded his head.

It looked as if he was suppressing tears of gratitude. Harry then led him over to the couch where the rest of the boys were still sitting so I turned to Hermione.

"Well, I guess we better get researching different ways to help Harry if things do go south during the match," I said and Hermione agreed.

"I already pulled some books from the library so we can study in the common room tonight," Hermione replied.

I nodded before following her towards a study table.

"I can't believe how similar those two can be sometimes," Ron said shaking his head and watching the two girls depart after hearing their conversation.

"Yea, well they are both trying to save Harry's life," Fred countered.

"I just wish Marnie wouldn't worry so much," Harry added while the twins shook their heads.

"Listen mate, if the roles were reversed, would you be so calm if someone was out to get your sister?" George asked while Harry brought his hands to his face.

"But they are aren't they!" Harry exclaimed in an exasperated tone. "Being associated with me already puts a target on her back. Plus, those bastard Slytherin's who target her when she's alone and I'm scared out of my mind why she dreams about Voldemort nearly every night. It has to mean something!" Harry finished while the three other boys bowed their heads sorrowfully.

"You think maybe it's time to confide in an adult?" Ron asked while the others turned to look at him.

"Honestly I've already been considering it myself," Fred added while the other two nodded; Neville had since left the group.

"But who would we tell?" George asked.

"Marnie's right, it might be too hard on Joss and Remus with Lena involved," Harry said.

"So that leaves McGonagall and Dumbledore as our best options," George replied.

"I think McGonagall would be more suitable since she is our head of house and it would be easier at least to get a meeting with her. Plus, if she deems it important enough, she can bring it to Dumbledore directly." Fred added.

"Now who's going to be the one to go behind Marnie's back?" Ron asked solemnly.

Harry went to answer but Fred cut him off.

"I'll do it. I've taken Marnie's wrath before and I don't mind being the center of it when I know I've done the right thing. Plus, you have enough to worry about Harry with the upcoming match and whatever it is you guys are always whispering about," Fred said as he gave a pointed look to both Harry and Ron who couldn't look directly at him in return.

"Thank-you Fred. I'll owe you one," Harry said with a grateful expression.

"Yea, well let's hope your sister doesn't murder me before I can collect," Fred replied as he stood up and started to make his way for the deputy headmistress' office.

He arrived at the door which stood adjacent to the portrait hole only moments later. Fred knocked and waited a moment before he heard footsteps approach.

"Mr. Weasley, this is a surprise," Professor McGonagall said in greeting with suspicion laced in her voice after she had opened the door.

I guess that was called for.

"Erm, professor, I thought I might have a word with you about something rather important," Fred said seriously while he watched the expression change on McGonagall's face from trepidation to concern.

"Of course, why don't you come in and take a seat?" the professor gestured as she stood aside and allowed Fred to step through the doorway into a parlour which was obvious for receiving guests with a couple chairs and a coffee table centered around a small fireplace.

"What can I help you with?" McGonagall asked as she took a seat and gestured for Fred to sit across from her.

"Well, it's Marnie actually. I don't really know how to explain this but she's been having dreams, nightmares really, most every night now," Fred started to explain while McGonagall studied him.

"Is something bothering Miss. O'Hara?" she asked as Fred shook his head.

"No, it's nothing like that. She says she has these vivid dreams about her mother," Fred paused while the professor offered another speculation.

"Well I'm sure it is very difficult for Miss. O'Hara to deal with her mother's condition," she continued but Fred shook his head again.

"No, I mean, Marnie has dreams where she is her mother and lives out her mother's memories," Fred continued and watched the professor's expression change into concerned surprise.

"Are you telling me Mr. Weasley that Miss. O'Hara has dreams of her mother's past?" she asked rather seriously.

"Yes. And the worst bit is that recently they have all had… they've all had You Know Who in them," Fred finished as McGonagall gasped.

"How long as this been going on?" the professor demanded.

"These particular dreams seem to have started after she got back from Christmas break, but I can't be for certain," Fred answered miserably.

"Why hasn't she brought this to my attention sooner?" she demanded again.

"Marnie is still afraid to bring it to anyone's attention, especially her dad. A small group of us have been trying to figure out the cause but we haven't had much luck and they only seem to be getting worse," Fred explained while the professor nodded along.

"Well, thank-you for telling me Mr. Weasley. It is a very wise thing you did," McGonagall said and stood up to escort Fred to the door.

"You won't tell Marnie's father will you?" Fred asked more desperately than he had intended.

"For the moment I do not think Joss will need to be privy to this information, but there may come a time where that will change. For right now I am going to tell the headmaster who will no doubt have a conversation with Miss. O'Hara," the professor explained.

Fred soon vacated the room and McGonagall closed the door behind him. He felt as if several pounds of weight was being added to his shoulders as he slumped back to the common room. He entered to see Marnie and Hermione still sitting at the table looking over books while George, Harry and Ron sat in their same seats and gave him worried looks when he walked in. Fred just nodded his head and went over to Marnie.

"Hare, can I talk with you a minute?" Fred asked in a hesitant tone.

He knew he had done the right thing, but he didn't know what it would cost him.

"Of course," Marnie answered, getting up and following him up to the boy's dormitory.

"This must be serious if you've brought me up here," Marnie joked but Fred only returned a small smile.

He also paused a moment to watch Marnie's smile drop from her face.

"What's up Fred?" she asked worriedly as he sat down on George's bed.

Marnie followed suit by sitting on Lee's bed which sat opposite.

"Well, we haven't been able to come up with anything about your dreams," Fred started while Marnie just sighed.

"You didn't tell my dad did you?" she asked unsurprisingly.

"No, I told Professor McGonagall who I am pretty sure is on her way to tell Professor Dumbledore," Fred answered while he looked down at his hands. "But I did ask her not to send a letter to your dad. At least not yet," Fred added hastily.

Marnie stayed quiet which eventually brought Fred to look up at her. She was staring thoughtfully at the ground, looking rather ragged.

"Are you mad?" Fred finally asked with bated breath.

Marnie let out a slight laugh.

"Maybe I would have been a week ago. But honestly…" she paused releasing a heavy sigh. "I'm so tired Fred. I see that- that monster nearly every night in my dreams. I see Harry's dead parents. I see other people's corpses at my feet. It's too much Fred!" Marnie exclaimed while Fred got up and joined her on Lee's bed.

Fred put his arm around her as she leaned on his chest. Her breathing was labored but started to calm when he rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"We just couldn't watch you suffer anymore," Fred said quietly while Marnie remained silent.

"What's wrong with us Fred?" Marnie asked desperately. "Between my dreams and Harry's scar bothering him, we probably belong in a hospital wing," she continued with a mirthless laugh.

"What do you mean Harry's scar?" Fred asked in bewilderment.

"Oh, I thought I told you," Marnie said shaking her head. "His scar has been hurting at odd times. Harry seems to think it's a warning of some kind but he won't tell me much more," she continued.

Fred paused for a moment.

"What if your dreams are a warning as well?" Fred finally said as the thought that had been at the back of his mind for ages finally came to the surface.

He had been too scared to ponder it before, but now it was seeming to be more and more accurate.

"What would my dreams be a warning about?" Marnie asked curiously.

"Well, you've been dreaming about Death Eaters and You Know Who. So that might be the warning. You and your family are always talking about how they will come back one day," Fred stopped with a pregnant pause.

Marnie gasped taking in Fred's words.

But before she could say anything more Professor McGonagall came into the dorm with a worried expression.

"Miss. O'Hara, Professor Dumbledore has requested an immediate meeting with you that he felt couldn't wait until tomorrow," the deputy headmistress said as she raised her arm in a beckoning manner towards Marnie.

Marnie immediately stood up and followed the professor down to the common room where Harry and the others caught her eye with worried and meaningful glances.

As they stepped into the hallway Marnie kept following the professor towards the headmaster's office.

"Given the circumstances I will not press the matter of you being in a boy's dormitory Miss. O'Hara, but I will say that I do not encourage such behavior in my students," Professor McGonagall said while Marnie nodded and felt her face go flush.

They arrived at the foot of a large gargoyle statue where the professor gave the password.

"Fudge Flies," she said before the statue seemingly came to life and moved to reveal a staircase.

Professor McGonagall then raised her arm to usher Marnie forward. Marnie ascended the staircase alone before she came to a large wooden door at the top. She approached it and raised her hand to knock but heard Professor Dumbledore speak before she could.

"You may enter," his voice instructed in a calm and inviting tone.

Marnie entered the chamber to see a large, ornate office filled with an assortment of instruments and books. She couldn't help but gaze around and take everything in.

"Won't you have a seat Marnie," Professor Dumbledore offered as he gestured to the seat opposite him.

Marnie sat down and folded her arms in her lap.

"Am I in trouble Professor?" Marnie blurted before she could stop herself.

Professor Dumbledore let out a soft chuckle.

"No my child, I have not called you here to punish or reprimand you. If that had been the case I would not have called you at this late hour," he said reassuringly. "I would like you to tell me about these dreams you have been having."

I took a deep breath, having guessed this was the cause for the meeting, before starting into my retelling of all my dreams I had had over the past few months. It wasn't too long since they were mostly consistent; Voldemort's ghost, Harry's parents, Fabian and Gideon.

Dumbledore remained silent throughout the entire reiteration. Even when I stopped talking he still pondered my words.

"So, these dreams are always the same?" he finally asked with curiosity in his eyes.

"Yes," I answered.

"And Voldemort and his followers are always there?" he asked

"Yes."

"I see. Well I think that is all for tonight," Dumbledore said as I looked at him surprisingly.

"Are you going to tell my father?" I blurted again.

"No Marnie, I feel telling Joss would not benefit your situation or his own," he answered with a knowing look in his eye.

I stood up then, having many questions in my head but little energy to ask. I followed him to the door where he took something out of his robe pocket.

"Here, I asked Madam Pomfrey to concoct this sleeping draught for you," the headmaster said as he put the vial into my hand. "It is a particular variation which suppresses dreams," he explained.

I smiled in relief and pocketed it before heading out the door.

"Thank-you professor," I said and he nodded with a smile.

"Marnie, do tell me if more happens or things develop. But I feel there is no need to dwell on your current dreams as of now," he said while I nodded and turned back towards the stairs.

It was late, but still before curfew, as I made my way back to Gryffindor Tower. When I entered the common room, I was met by my anxious looking friends who had obviously been waiting up for me. I gave them a re-hash of what happened and showed them the sleeping draught which I held possessively in my hands. I couldn't remember the last time I had gotten a proper sleep.

"Why don't we let Marnie go try out her new potion and we can ask her more questions tomorrow," George suggested to which I was grateful.

I gave my good-byes then before heading up to my own dorm and changing my clothes. I fell onto my bed and took the regulated dose of the potion. Only moments later I could feel a tingly sensation in my extremities as my body became heavy, including my eyes. Soon I felt my mind go cloudy and I drifted off into a deep sleep.


	25. The First Attempt

After my meeting with Dumbledore my dreams seemingly began to go back to normal, even without the Sleeping Draught. However, this did not stop my friends from keeping a watchful on me despite my many reassurances.

Quidditch also became another preoccupation as Gryffindor's match against Slytherin was fast approaching. This had everyone on edge since Snape was refereeing and seemingly had it out for Harry's head.

So, on the morning of the match, none of them had much appetite for food. By the time Oliver Wood came around to collect the team, no one had touched their food or even spoken very much. However, Marnie and the others wished them luck as they walked by and headed of for the pitch.

Marnie and the rest soon followed as they made their way out to the stands with the rest of the school. Marnie ended up sitting in between Hermione and Neville as they waited for the teams to come out. By the time they did Marnie was on the edge of her seat in anxious anticipation. This also meant that she did not notice Draco Malfoy come and sit behind them while he taunted Neville and Ron.

Professor Snape blew the whistle once the captains had shaken hands and the teams mounted their brooms. So far it didn't look like he was targeting Harry, but the match had only just begun. The girls however were playing quite well as each of them had already put away a goal making the score 30-0. The twins on the other hand were not as quick since they closely surveyed Harry for his well-being.

Back in the stands Malfoy started mouthing off to Ron which eventually incited a physical brawl that went unnoticed by both Marnie and Hermione as they sat staring at the edge of their seats. It was during this altercation that Harry seemingly spotted the snitch, which Lee exclaimed over the commentary, and sent Harry barreling towards Snape in a downward fury. Snape moved out of the way in the nick of time just as Harry folded his hand over the snitch, ultimately winning the game.

Hermione and Marnie stood up in relief and exuberance as Harry came safely back to the ground and held the snitch triumphantly in the air. His fellow teammates soon followed as they all huddled in the center of the pitch in celebration. Marnie and Hermione turned to head down when they realized Ron and Neville were on the ground and had indications of being in a brawl. The girls then spotted Malfoy and worked it out for themselves what had transpired. Marnie helped Neville to his feet while Hermione helped Ron before they all headed down to meet everyone.

Once on the pitch Marnie ran over to Harry who was also standing beside the twins congratulating him. She grabbed Harry in mid-sentence and brought him in for a bone-crushing hug since she was immensely relieved that he was alright, and also that they had won the game.

"Oi, what about us?" Fred asked cheekily while I gave him a grin before letting go of Harry and moving over to him and George.

The team then decided to head to the changing rooms while the rest of us headed back to the castle. We were all in the common room, which was filled with rowdy students still jubilant from the recent win. Already there were snacks going around and music playing from somewhere. Gryffindor's definitely knew how to throw a party at a moment's notice.

However, I had a hard time joining in when my friends returned without Harry in tow. Since Snape had still been at the pitch when they left, maybe he had taken a chance to attack Harry when they were alone. But before my mind could go into complete chaos, Harry entered the room with a rather serious look on his face. He bee-lined for Hermione and Ron who were sitting on another couch and started talking in their usual hushed tones before going back out through the portrait hole. I starred after them for a minute with half a mind to follow before Fred came up to me and offered his hand.

"Care to dance Hare?" he asked with a goofy grin.

"You're out of your mind Weasley," I answered but not without a smile.

"Is that a no?" he asked cheekily before I accepted his hand and followed him to the opened space in front of the fire place where some of the older students had moved the couches to the side and were dancing to the fast-paced rock song that was playing.

It was highly suspect that the older students had some sort of secret stash of fire whiskey and were taking the recent win as an excuse to imbibe. However, Fred just spun me around as we both danced like idiots and laughed profusely. He even brushed off the students who came to congratulate him by smiling and then redirecting his attention back to me. It felt incredible to finally have a bit of fun and relax after the past month. The thoughts of Harry's suspicious behavior dissipated as our friends joined in and George stole me away from Fred much to his disgruntlement. Ange and Leesh were also dancing wildly together while Lee and Katie danced with blushes on their face despite their lack of touching. This lasted well into the night as we relished in our Gryffindor pride and the fact of just being with friends. It was only broken up when Professor McGonagall finally came in and ordered us all to bed. In fear of strict retribution, the entire Gryffindor Tower was silent and in their beds within the next five minutes.

XXX

The next week got seemingly better after as the dreams remained at bay and life began to return to normal; all except for Harry who was acting outwardly suspicious. This was only cemented when he turned up one night with a sorrowful look.

"We have a detention tomorrow night," he said in a mournful tone.

"Aren't you being a little dramatic? It's not like you're a saint with the rules," I said while he just gave me a withering look.

"We have to go out into the Forbidden Forest," he said while my eyebrows shot up to my hairline.

"That's not possible," I said but he just sighed.

"All four of us have to go out tomorrow night with Hagrid apparently, Neville included," he explained.

"So, I'm assuming Malfoy was somehow the cause?" I guessed while Harry nodded dejectedly.

"Well, I guess having Hagrid there will be some sort of comfort," I said only semi-confidently.

Soon after, Hermione and Ron entered the common room with similar looks on their faces. Harry stood up to go and join them while I continued to stare after them. I had already confronted Harry numerous times about their suspicious behavior, but he had remained silent on the topic. Ron had even remained mum, despite my best efforts to worm it out of him. All I had to go on was Nicholas Flammel and Professor Snape; however, I was less certain about Snape's involvement in this scheme ever since the quidditch match. He had had plenty of opportunities, and obviously the perpetrator was not concerned with crowds due to the attempt made during the last match. But Harry had remained unharmed, thankfully, which left me unconvinced about our initial theory.

The following night I begrudgingly bid the four first years good luck as they set out to meet Hagrid at the Forbidden Forest. To make it worse, Filch had arrived to escort them with Malfoy in tow. After staring at my homework for a good hour without much progress, I decided to call it a night and went upstairs to bed. Sleep came easily enough though as the darkness of the room enveloped me.

I was now sitting in the same den that I had seen Harry's father's murdered body in my previous dream, however I was sitting on their couch as I looked between Lily and James' smiling faces. Sirius Black was also present and sitting beside me on our own loveseat. I could feel the nervousness in my body as I sipped my tea and listened to Lily and James discuss why they had called us here.

"Well, as you very well know, Lily is expected to have our child within the next few weeks," James explained as the obviously pregnant Lily beamed beside him.

"So, we wanted to discuss the idea of becoming our child's god-parents," James continued while I heard an audible inhale from Sirius.

"Padfoot, you had to know this was coming," James said keenly.

"Not necessarily, there was always Remus or Peter to consider," Sirius explained but James shook his head.

"It was always you brother," he replied before the two men fell into an emotive silence.

"I mean we had thought you and Lena-" James started after a moment before Lily audibly cleared her throat and threw a pointed look at her husband which silenced him.

"Lena, you are also an obvious choice to be this little one's god-mother," Lily added while she was smiling in an almost glow.

"Yea, plus we promised Marnie a sibling," James said with a chuckle.

I heard Sirius make an odd noise again while I finally turned to look at him. His eyes were focused on the ground before turning up to look and smile at Lily before James cleared his throat.

"In all seriousness, we know what this means during a time like this," James explained while the room exalted a palpable heaviness.

"That ruddy dark wizard is never coming anywhere near my godson," Sirius exclaimed.

James smiled. "How do you know it's going to be a boy?"

"Lena already gave us all our perfect little girl," he explained while I felt heat rush to my cheeks.

"Marnie and this little child will never be harmed by Voldemort, you have our word," I said ignoring Sirius' previous statement.

I woke up suddenly after that with a confused sense of what I had just seen. There were too many unknown variables to fully understand what I had just witnessed and what it meant. Thinking back to the conversation though, the topic was seemingly about the protection of Harry from Voldemort. After this realization there was no way in hell I was ever returning to sleep without knowing how and where Harry was. So, I ventured down to the common room to wait for his return. It was far later than I had expected when they came shuffling in around three in the morning.

"Marnie, what are you doing up?" Harry asked as the four of them came over to join me in front of the fire.

"I had another dream," I answered.

Neville looked confused by my answer while Ron feigned his own confusion.

"I thought they had stopped," Harry said anxiously.

"They had, and this one wasn't necessarily bad, but I was worried about what it could mean," I said while Harry, Ron and Hermione all dawned guilty expressions.

"It didn't by chance have to do with me and Voldemort, did it?" Harry asked solemnly.

"Why would you even say that?" I asked while I felt the anxiety rise throughout my body.

"Well, I think I might have just run into him," Harry said in a rare shaky tone.

The four of them then went into a rehash of the night's events which left me speechless.

"So not only was it the most idiotic plan to let first year students serve detention out in the Forbidden Forest, but you just had a run in with the darkest wizard of all time who just happens to have a vendetta against you?" I asked incredulously while the others remained silent.

We remained sitting there in silence for a long time while it was evident there wasn't much more to say. Neville ended up falling asleep on the end of the couch before Hermione eventually decided to head up to bed. Ron and Harry eventually went up to their own dorms, leaving Neville asleep on the couch. I pulled one of the faded quilts over him before deciding to head up to the third-year boy's dorm and crawled into bed with Fred. The beds weren't pushed together anymore since I had been regularly staying in my own dorm but Fred didn't even wake as I crawled in next to him. I did see however a smile cross his face as he rolled over and put his arm around me.

I hadn't planned on falling asleep but I awoke to the room filled with daylight and Fred laying on his back while he looked over the map.

"How long have you been up?" I asked as Fred shifted his attention to me at the sound of my voice.

"Not long," he answered in a non-committal sort of way. "I am worried as to why you are here though. I thought you weren't having nightmares anymore," he continued with his brow furrowed in concern.

I then explained my dream and what had happened to Harry during his detention. When I finished Fred remained quiet while he took in all the information.

"I sometimes worry that you and my brother hang out with the bloke," he said before I took a pillow and hit him over the head.

"This is serious!" I exclaimed.

"I know that Hare, I'm just nervous," Fred explained while I gave him a small smile.

I knew anything other than feeling pure bliss made Fred uncomfortable which made it lucky that not much fazed him.

"Well, I guess we better head down and go find them," Fred suggested while I nodded.

Fred then pulled back the curtains to reveal George pretending to read a book on his bed.

"You knew he was here didn't you?" I asked.

"I don't know how you could accuse me of that Hare. I can't see through opaque curtains," Fred answered with a shrug while George closed the book he had supposedly been reading and shrugged as well.

I huffed and stormed out of the room to return to my own dorm to get dressed. But before I left George called out which made me pause.

"I thought McGonagall warned you about spending the night with us untrustworthy boys," he said cheekily.

"Shut it Weasley," was all I said before I turned and exited the dorm.

XXX

The rest of the day, just like those to come, were filled with heightened anxiety and a necessity to study for the upcoming exams.

Harry had apparently started having nightmares after his run in with Voldemort which had undoubtedly made him uneasy. He and Marnie spent a lot of their nights sitting together in silence while they tried to study. It had become an unspoken rule between them not to talk about Voldemort or anything related since they had seemingly gone through every scenario to no avail which had only left them frustrated and strung out. Harry also wouldn't talk about whatever it was he had been doing over the past few months, so Marnie settled for spending all their free time together so she could keep an eye on him.

Finally, the last day of exams arrived and Marnie spent the latter part of it sitting outside by the lake as her friends all basked in the relief of making it through. The last exam for the first years followed that of the third years so Marnie hadn't seen much of Harry or the others. Her friends had also called in an early night since most of them had been studying well into the previous night; except of course for Fred and George.

Marnie drifted off into a fitful sleep, much as she had over the past weeks, since one did not sleep well with the threat of a certain dark wizard on the loose. Marnie had been consistently having the same dream as before, where Lena was sitting in the Potter's den and receiving news of becoming Harry's godmother, all the while promising to protect us from Voldemort himself. However, on this night, the routine dream transitioned at the end to my mother ascending the stairs of the Potter house, except I knew it wasn't the same day as the four adults sitting in the living room. There was an eerie silence that filled the house and I could feel the terror emanate throughout my mother's body. Reaching the top of the stairs I turned to go down the hall and finally heard the sound of a crying baby. This made my mother start running towards the room in the middle of the hall. Seeing Harry in his crib brought a rush of relief which was severed at the sight of Lily's body lying still beside the it. Tears were furiously cascading down my face as I held back the dire urge to bend down and hold my best friend who was no doubt dead. But somehow Harry was still safe and I needed to take him away. I went over to the young boy who was sobbing profusely but held his arms towards his godmother as a sign to pick him up. My mother slowly took the boy from his bedroom and left without looking back at the unbearable sight. My mother even turned her head when passing the den and sheltered Harry's eyes so he wouldn't see his father. Once out of the house and on the street my mother stood looking at the house for a brief moment before apparating away. This meant that she did not see the hooded figure who rushed towards the house only moments later.

I woke up then with tears running down my face as I bolted out of bed. I immediately rushed down the stairs into the common room with the intention of heading out the door, although with no particular destination in mind. However, I was stopped by the presence of my head of house and headmaster standing in the common room, after just having entered through the portrait hole.

"Ah, Marnie, I guess I am not surprised that you have awoken, given the circumstance," Dumbledore said which startled me.

"Where's Harry?" I blurted while McGonagall approached me and put her arm on my shoulder as a comforting gesture.

This did not put me at ease.

"Harry is safe and being attended to in the hospital wing," Dumbledore explained while I gasped in horror.

"It was Voldemort," I exclaimed loudly which made McGonagall flinch beside me.

"I unfortunately must agree with you," the headmaster said with a saddened expression.

"What happened?" I asked again while Dumbledore beckoned for me to sit on one of the couches.

McGonagall sat beside me as Dumbledore sat across. Dumbledore then went into a summary of what had happened to Harry that night in the depths of the castle and how he had come face-to-face with Voldemort in an attempt to save the philosopher's stone. He also explained how Professor Quirrell had been the host body for Voldemort to enter the school and live while he reserved enough strength to return to his own body. It was all terribly complex and left a disgusting taste in my mouth. It also made me realize that I had been right in questioning our theory about Snape when it had indeed been Quirrell. At the end of his retelling, Dumbledore brought me to the hospital wing since it was decided that there was no way I would be able to go back to sleep.

It was frightening seeing Harry's ragged body while he was also unconscious. I guess this is how the twins must feel when I end up in here. I sat with Harry for the entire night as I nodded off a couple times in my chair. It wasn't until the morning however that he awoke himself and nudged me lightly.

"I really want to be mad at you, you know," I said in a stern voice when I opened my eyes.

"I know," Harry replied softly.

"I knew you were keeping something from me. I could have helped!" I continued in a frustrated voice.

"That's what I was afraid of," Harry replied honestly as he looked me in the eyes.

"Marnie, I have waited my entire life for a family I didn't even know I had. There's no way I could ever jeopardize that and put you in danger," he explained while I shook my head in further frustration.

"So my consolation is to sit and watch my family go and risk their lives without my even knowing. How is that fair?" I asked while I crossed my arms on my chest.

Harry sighed. "I guess it's not fair."

"Damn right it's not. So promise me you will never keep things from me again," I said.

"On one condition," he answered. "You do the same for me."

I thought it over as I realized all of what that meant.

"I promise."

We both smiled then as Professor Dumbledore entered the room.

"Aw, Harry. It's good to see you awake. I was hoping Marnie, that you could give us a moment. I'm sure the congregation outside would appreciate an update," he said with humour in his eyes.

I nodded before I stood up and headed towards the door after giving Harry one more smile which he returned. I then went to join my friends outside and coax them into joining me for breakfast since I could already feel my stomach growling.

After the fiasco that was Harry, Ron and Hermione risking their lives and facing Voldemort, the next couple days were quite peaceful in comparison. Even Harry facing dad and Remus. They had met us at the train station as always and begrudgingly let Harry follow his aunt and uncle out of King's Cross. Dad and Remus had been vague on the explanation as to why it was necessary but assured us that Harry would be re-joining us at home by the end of the month. Mrs. Weasley had also come over and introduced herself to Harry before we all went our separate ways; Ginny had been overly excited about seeing Harry. It was both comforting and sad to leave Hogwarts, Harry and my friends for my own home. But this past year had been way too exciting for any one person to endure. The routine quiet of home felt to be just what I needed, especially when Harry would come to join. If only things were to go just as you planned.


	26. Some Unexpected Guests

When Harry did finally come and join us in time for his birthday, we were planning a big birthday party where we invited both the Weasley's and the Lovegood's. Harry helped throughout the week while dad also adamantly tried to convince him to drop out of Hogwarts and be homeschooled instead. However, Harry was finally able to convince dad that Voldemort had it out for him despite where he was, and he wasn't going to let the dark wizard scare him away from the life he loved. Remus also helped to ease my father's nerves while the reserved man uncharacteristically disagreed with my father on the subject. But I also knew how much Hogwarts meant to my uncle.

So, by the end of the week, most of the anxiousness had dissipated and we all waited for the arrival of Harry's guests. I hadn't seen the twins all that much this summer and was eager to hang out with them, much like Harry was to see Ron.

At around noon we heard a knock at the door as Harry and I raced each other down the stairs to answer it. Harry, with his faster pace and reflexes, arrived at the door first and opened it excitedly. Ron was standing next to his mother who both greeted him animatedly as he invited them in, along with the rest of the Weasley's. I smiled as Fred and George walked through the door and immediately came over to see me. As George hugged me though, I couldn't help noticing how Ginny was hiding behind her mother as Mrs. Weasley talked to Harry and handed my father a homemade cake.

"Gin's acting a bit strange," I said as I motioned over to the timid girl who was typically animated in character.

"I'm surprised really," Fred started.

"She hasn't shut up about meeting Harry since we parted ways at King's Cross," George continued while they both shrugged.

Mr. Weasley was the last to enter who was unexpectedly followed by some guests.

"Amos?" my father asked in greeting as he went over to the man who I had most definitely never met before.

"Yes, well Amos here asked me about my plans for the weekend and extended himself an invitation when I told him about Harry's birthday," Mr. Weasley explained while he unsubtly explained to my father as to why there was a party crasher at our front doorstep.

This man however remained oblivious and shook my father's hand before spotting Harry and introducing himself. That was when I noticed the Hufflepuff seeker enter our house.

"Cedric Diggory?" Fred asked in disgust as he saw the boy enter through the door.

"How does your dad know this prat?" George asked in a whispered tone beside me.

"No idea," I answered as I saw both Cedric and his father turn their attention to me.

"Ah Joss, this must be your daughter!" the man exclaimed with more excitement than was necessary.

The man then approached me and surveyed me in a way which I felt I was under a microscope.

"She's a real looker, eh Cedric?" the man asked while I gaped in response.

"Dad!" Cedric exclaimed in a rather embarrassed tone.

"She must know how beautiful she is, there's no need to be bashful. Those eyes are just exquisite," he added while Fred put a protective arm over me and my father cleared his throat in discomfort.

"Well Amos, that's a very forward analysis of my daughter. Now why don't we all move to the backyard where we have some tables set up?" dad suggested as the uncomfortable air started to dissipate and everyone jumped at the opportunity to change the subject away from my appearance.

We all then started towards the back door while Fred kept his arm around me and also glared at Cedric who was giving me an apologetic look.

"Who does he think he is?" George asked while we walked together outside away from the crowd.

"Mr. Diggory is rather ghastly," I said with a shiver running down my spine.

"No wonder pretty boy is so full of himself," Fred said, staring at Cedric with a withering expression.

"I actually don't think Cedric is all that bad," I said looking at the boy who was the only one sitting with the adults besides Ginny who was blatantly staring at Harry.

We sat under the tree for a while, with the twins pointedly turning their backs towards Cedric.

"Marnie, why don't you help me collect some plates?" dad asked from the table before I stood up and followed him into the kitchen.

"Why don't you hang out with Cedric? The poor boy is sitting all alone and is actually very nice," dad said once we were inside.

"The twins don't really seem to like him," I answered, although I did feel guilty for leaving Cedric out.

"I can only imagine why," dad said.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," dad said dismissively. "Just talk to the boy won't you," dad finished as he carried more plates outside.

So when I came back outside I approached Cedric instead of rejoining the twins and asked him to join us.

"I don't think your friends like me much," he said as he directed his gaze towards the twins who were looking at us with contempt.

"Well, then I'll stay here with you," I said before sitting down beside him.

"You don't have to be so nice. I know we weren't invited," he said blatantly.

"Yea, I didn't know my dad even knew yours," I answered honestly.

"Well, we do live just over that hill," he said as he pointed in the distance to the east of the property.

"Oh," was all I said as I thought back to before I attended Hogwarts and my father had made that vague comment about knowing some local children starting at Hogwarts. I guess he hadn't just meant the twins.

"Don't worry, my dad doesn't typically hold a lot of friends," Cedric added which caused me to stifle a laugh.

"Believe it or not he does mean well," Cedric continued while I tried really hard to believe him.

"I've seen you in school before," Cedric continued, changing the subject.

"Yea, well I've seen us crush you at quidditch," I countered with a smug grin.

"Ah, that Gryffindor modesty," Cedric retorted which caught me off guard.

"You aren't a bad seeker though. But I just can't change my loyalty from my brother," I said while Cedric looked over at Harry.

"It must be nice to be so close with someone that you automatically consider them to be your family," he said thoughtfully. "I've always wished that I had a sibling," he continued.

"Yea, well I had to wait ten years to see mine again," I said, surprised with the amount of honesty I was relaying.

"Well, he's definitely lucky to have someone like you watching out for him. By the sounds of it, he definitely needs it."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it," I chuckled as dad brought out dinner.

The twins joined the table when the food showed up, with Fred claiming the other seat next to me. It was quite palpable however how much Fred was loathing Cedric's company; but I quite liked him. Even after holding the title of Hogwart's Pretty Boy, he seemed to have a level head and a mild manner. I just knew the boys would never befriend a quidditch rival.

A distraction thankfully came with the arrival of Luna and her father as they circled around from the front yard and joined us at the table where dad and Mrs. Weasley were dishing out the food. Luna went to sit beside Harry, with Ron giving her an uncomfortable look, while Mr. Lovegood sat beside Remus. I glared at Ron for being impolite to Luna, but before I could do anything to chastise him Cedric once again took my attention.

"Isn't it so peaceful living out here?" he asked while I turned back with a smile.

"Yea, it's ruddy fantastic," Fred answered sarcastically before I could say anything.

"Fred, you live in the area too and you love it," I said sternly giving him a severe look.

Why was he acting like such an arse?

"Oh yea, my dad told me you live over to the north," Cedric said kindly but Fred just grunted.

"Have you lived here your whole life?" I asked Cedric while trying to ignore Fred's behavior.

It wasn't that much better that I could see George doing nothing to reel in his brother; this always meant that he felt similarly to Fred.

"Pretty much, my father and I moved out here when I was young. Before that we had a flat in the city," Cedric answered.

Having my own precarious situation with my mother, I didn't press him about his. So we continued with our idle chatter while the twins remained quiet and brooding beside me. I was however, pleasantly surprised with how personable Cedric was turning out to be, and not at all like how the Gryffindor quidditch team made him out to be. By the end of dessert I felt Cedric and I had at least become fairly good acquaintances and promised to talk once we returned to school. Cedric was the first to leave with his father, followed soon after by the Lovegood's. I had been upset that I hadn't spent much time with Luna but we promised to hang out later in the summer when the gardens were in full harvest. The Weasley's stayed to help clean up and I noticed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talking with Remus. I realized that this was the first time they were actually seeing him in recent years and was pleased to see a smile on his face as he spoke with them.

The twins however were being stubbornly quiet and mostly ignoring me. So, having none of their juvenile behavior, I went over to join Harry and Ron who were also bashing Cedric and his quidditch skills.

"What is wrong with everyone?" I asked in an exasperated tone as I stood up to leave.

"He's the enemy Marnie, you shouldn't be hanging out with him," Ron warned while I turned to give him a scornful look.

"He's not evil! He's just in Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor! Why is everyone making a big deal about this?" I shouted as I stormed off.

I then went to sit beside Ginny who was still sitting at the table by herself.

"Why are boys so immature?" I huffed as I sat down.

"Not all of them are bad," Ginny responded turning her gaze towards Harry again. "I saw you talking with Cedric, he's really quite handsome," Ginny said before I could comment on her staring.

"He's also nice and friendly and charming," I said not wanting to hear about what his fan club usually gushed about at school, his looks.

"You two seemed to be getting along," Ginny continued with a mischievous grin.

"Stand down Gin, I only just properly met the boy," I replied shaking my head. "Plus, your idiot brothers were terribly rude."

"Yea, they get like that. Don't worry, they'll come sulking back to you. You are their queen after all," Ginny explained slyly.

"I am not, I'm their best friend and they shouldn't be faulting me for trying to make friends with someone else," I said indignantly.

"True, but I know they also don't like to share you," she replied causing me to think over her response.

It was true that she hardly went anywhere without Fed and George by her side. Only a few times when she was either with Harry or Angelina, and even then, they were typically always around.

"I'm still upset with them," I huffed as Ginny chuckled.

"They deserve it," she replied with a smile.

The girls then spent the next while talking of other things than boys until Mrs. Weasley announced they were leaving. Marnie bid all the Weasley's good-bye except for the twins who were still brooding, and then went back into the house. Harry and the others were already sitting on the couch.

"It seems Fred and George didn't take kindly to my request," dad said while I sighed and dropped down into one of the chairs.

"They're being stupid," I commented.

Remus chuckled. "Well fourteen-year-old boys do tend to be like that sometimes."

"Give them time Marnie, they're just used to your undivided attention," dad continued to explain but I sighed again.

"I think I'm going to go up to bed," I announced given that it was pretty late.

I walked over and hugged everyone while wishing Harry a happy birthday for at least the twelfth time. I then climbed the staircase and got ready before flopping down into my bed. My frustration kept my mind running but thoroughly exhausted my body, so I finally drifted off to sleep before Harry even came in for bed.

XXX

The rest of the summer was a lot more exciting since Harry was around and I had a few chances to go stay with Angelina, Alicia and Katie. But I felt when I was home that the house was much livelier than it had ever been before Harry. I could see both dad and Remus were visibly more upbeat, not that they hadn't been content during my childhood, but I think they had always worried about Harry's well-being. Also, as promised, the four of us did have a sort of harvest party at the end of August with the Lovegood's which gave the opportunity to properly catch up with Luna. In lieu of the celebration, Luna had brought her own blueberry concoction as a gift to try, which Harry and I had had a hard time trying to drink, especially after she told us she had added rutabaga and turnip. But Harry and Luna were becoming fast friends as Harry never seemed to mind how eccentric Luna could be and Luna didn't cloud her judgement on Harry's byproduct fame. Looking at the two of them together, I couldn't believe that her and Harry were going into their second year already which meant, even more dauntingly, that this would be my fourth.

The twins also started sending me a bombardment of letters the following day after Harry's birthday. They apologized profusely in each one and admitted to being idiotic prats. I had held out for an entire week before my father urged me to respond so he could eat breakfast in peace without a flurry of letters coming through.

A letter I hadn't been expecting though came from Cedric, who also sent me a letter on August first. It was a simple letter, but surprising none the less.

Dear Marnie,

I wanted to thank-you for your hospitality last night, especially since I know we arrived uninvited. I know my father can be too forward sometimes but he does mean well, so I hope he didn't offend you.

Anyways I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your company and was hoping we could stay in touch before school starts.

All the best,

Cedric

I didn't think my family had found out about the letter yet since it had arrived with the tens of others from the twins. Plus, when we did start writing back and forth it was easy enough to assume I was receiving a letter from the twins or one of my other friends who I also kept in touch with.

XXX

Soon enough it was nearing the end of summer which meant we were receiving our Hogwart's supply letters.

"Well, I guess it's as good a time as any to visit Diagon Alley," my father said that morning as Harry and I looked over our lists.

So, after breakfast we all stood in front of our fire place which dad had agreed to leave permanently on the Floo Network. He had decided this so that Harry and I could travel easier without always having to rely on Remus.

"Marnie, why don't you show Harry how it's used and go first?" my dad asked as I took some powder from the pot he was holding and went to stand in the fireplace.

"Now, very clearly," my dad said as he always instructed me to.

"DIAGON ALLEY!" I exclaimed before throwing the powder down and was immediately transported through the network.

Moments later I was standing in the Leaky Cauldron as was the designated point of entry for Diagon Alley. Dad soon arrived with Remus as they had side apparated since dad wasn't able to use the Floo. However, Harry was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Harry?" I asked as dad and Remus cursed.

"I knew he didn't speak clearly enough!" dad exclaimed.

"Well, he couldn't have gotten too far, let's get searching," Remus said as he went to enter the alley with us following close behind.

We walked up and down the street as my anxiety rose with each passing minute.

"Joss! Remus!" I heard a booming voice call out from behind us which made us all whip around.

As we did turn, all three of us were relieved to see Hagrid walking with Harry at his side.

"We need to work on your enunciation," dad said as he ruffled Harry's hair and brought him into a protective hug.

"Thank-you Hagrid," Remus said as the half-giant smiled and turned away as he expressed he had business he needed to attend to.

"Well now that that's all settled, I'll meet you three at Fortescue's in an hour," Remus said as he headed away from us down the alley.

I also gave Harry a hug before the three of us turned and headed in the opposite direction of Remus.

"Merlin! Why do you two need so many books for Defense Against the Dark Arts?" my father exclaimed since he was carrying our lists and telling us what we needed from each store.

We entered Flourish and Blotts and were immediately taken aback by the sheer number of people in the store. Thankfully however we soon ran into a familiar red-headed family and went over to greet them.

"Marnie!" the twins exclaimed as they saw me and Harry headed over towards them.

Mrs. Weasley and the others also turned around as they noticed the three of us walking over.

"Oh, I didn't know you were coming out today Joss, I would have suggested you join us," Mrs. Weasley said kindly.

"Well I just thought it best since the kids got their lists today," he answered with a smile.

"What's all the fuss about?" I asked as I saw Mrs. Weasley dawn a blush which made the situation even more confusing.

"Gilderoy Lockhart is signing books," Ron explained in disgust while his mother shot him a look.

"That's the bloke who wrote all these books we have to get!" I exclaimed turning to investigate the man responsible for all of this.

It seemed a little narcissistic to require every student to purchase these many books from the same man.

Sure enough I caught sight of a middle-aged man who obviously obsessed about his looks. His hair looked like it was dyed blonde to keep the greys away and gelled back off his face. He also dawned a cheesy smile as he greeted everyone who approached him. Unfortunately, we were much too close to the man and he spotted Harry once his gaze turned our way.

"Well, if it's not Harry Potter!" he exclaimed causing Harry to stop dead in his tracks.

I could see the discomfort radiate off of him while my father went to put his hand on his shoulders to beckon him away. However, Mrs. Weasley was closer and pushed him towards Lockhart instead. In a few sudden movements Harry was propelled onto the landing where Lockhart was standing and having his picture taken by a reporter. I could feel my face turn red with anger as I knew this glory hog was only exploiting my brother. As Harry tried to make a run for it however, the man gave a pile of books to Harry which were apparently all signed, and all on our school list.

Harry was then finally able to make it away from him and automatically gave Mrs. Weasley the stack of free books. My father nodded in approval as he held up the two bags already containing each of our school books which he had hastily purchased. The three of us then tried to get out of the store before Harry received any more unwanted attention, with my hand protectively on Harry's shoulders.

However, we were stopped short at the sight of Lucius Malfoy having a heated discussion in front of the exit with Mr. Weasley. Harry and I fast approached Ginny who was seemingly standing in the middle before my father could stop us. Mr. Malfoy looked up at us as we approached and then to my father as his expression turned to an air of disgust.

"It looks as if your blood traitorousness has no bounds Arthur, especially with the lowly company you keep," Mr. Malfoy spat before turning to exit the shop, but not before he returned a book back to Ginny's cauldron.

My face was a red as Ginny's hair as I went to chase the Malfoy's out of the shop. I could feel Harry gearing up to do the same but a hand was grasped over each of our shoulders before we could do anything.

"Stay here you two!" my father ordered as we grudgingly stopped in our place.

"Did you hear what he said about us?" I exclaimed hotly spinning around to look at my father.

"And it's nothing different than what I have heard before. I am only happy to have Arthur as a friend and not have to deal with the likes of the Malfoy's in our daily lives," my father explained softly while I still clenched my fists.

"I know you two must hear things at school but I am telling you not to waste your time going after those who you feel slighted by. We are no less human and you are no less a witch and wizard by being a part of this family," my father continued while I loudly exhaled.

"Alright," I mumbled, slowly feeling the anger ebb away.

"Yes Joss," Harry echoed as I saw him look proudly up at my dad.

"Alright, now let's go meet your uncle. Your family is more than welcome to join us for ice cream," my father added as he turned to Mr. Weasley.

"I think we best be getting back, but we will see you all in a couple days!" Mr. Weasley answered as he shook my father's hand and brought him into an embrace before turning to leave with Ginny and Ron.

Hermione had also joined us during the slight altercation and turned to follow the Weasley's since her parents were over talking with Mrs. Weasley.

We then headed down the street and saw Remus sitting out at one of the tables outside.

"I saw a very irritated looking Malfoy walk through here a few moments ago," Remus said casually as we all headed in to order.

"Yes, well, when is that man ever happy?" dad responded while Remus only nodded.

XXX

We ended up being dropped off at the Burrow on the morning of September first since dad had one of his rare meetings in the city with a book editor and it had been a full moon last night. Mr. Weasley had also come to own a muggle car over the summer holidays and had made a few necessary magical changes for all of us to be able to fit into it. It was a lot larger than Remus' who hadn't ever enlarged the inside of his car since we had never needed to. The issue remained however that we were terribly late in leaving as it seemed everyone had forgotten at least something. So, by the time we arrived at King's Cross we only had five minutes to make the train.

I ran off ahead with the twins who were following Percy. Percy was in quite a mood since he thought it best for a prefect to arrive early and was now profusely late. Their parents were accompanying Ginny as it was her first year to Hogwarts while Ron and Harry were together at the end. I made it onto the train with the twins and immediately set off to find our friends. The train set off only minutes later as we settled in the compartment with Lee and the girls.

About twenty minutes into the ride however, Hermione entered the compartment followed by Neville and Ginny.

"Marnie, have you seen Harry or Ron?" she asked nervously as I gave her a quizzical look.

"Not since we got on the train, but they were right behind us," I answered.

"Well, we haven't seen them since we went through the platform," Ginny added in a nervous voice.

"Gin, this isn't some prank is it?" I asked sternly since I couldn't figure out their angle.

"Marnie, we're serious," Hermione replied with an anxious tone.

"Well, maybe they found another compartment and are waiting for you there," I offered while the three standing in the doorway looked unconvinced.

"Alright, we'll take another look," Hermione said before they turned and went back down the hall.

I was then preoccupied for the entire train ride as I tried to think of the very last moment I had seen the two boys. Unfortunately, I was quite certain that had been while we were walking through the station, before we ran through the wall.

When we arrived at Hogwarts and I searched the crowd for both Harry and Ron, I met up with Hermione who looked as anxious as I felt.

"So I take it you never found them?" I asked as I felt the knot tighten in my stomach.

She only shook her head as we made our way for the horseless carriages. I sat in with Ginny, Hermione and Neville as we rode in a nervous silence.

"Marnie, I'm sure we'll see them at the feast," George said while we walked from the carriages into the castle.

But he had been wrong. It wasn't until we were sitting in the common room and I was halfway through writing a letter to my father that Ron and Harry walked through the portrait hole. I shot out of my seat at the sight of them and pulled Harry into a crushing hug.

"Where the hell have you been?" I asked sternly noticing Harry looked embarrassed.

We went to sit down where we had been before, and Harry and Ron started their story. Apparently, the wall had sealed shut when they tried to go through and the next logical answer had been to carjack Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia and fly all the way to Hogwarts.

"Dad is going to murder you," was all I said while I gave him a smug grin.

Harry sighed and put his head in his hands. The twins on the other hand were wholly jealous they had taken the train and were subsequently mad at Ron for not telling them. This meant that the twins stood up and went to play exploding snap with Lee and Katie since Angelina and Alicia were already upstairs.

"There's something I haven't told you yet," Harry whispered after the twins had left and it was only us with Ron and Hermione. "A house-elf came to our house in the middle of the summer," Harry explained as I just gaped.

"What in the name of Merlin are you talking about?" I asked, not having the slightest clue of what he could be referring to, his story didn't seem very plausible.

"One night when you were over at Angelina's, I was woken up in the middle of the night to a house elf named Dobby sitting at the edge of my bed. He warned me not to come back to Hogwarts," Harry explained while I continued to gape at him.

"I thought you said no more secrets!" I exclaimed.

"I wanted to tell you, but it was the day before we went to Diagon Alley and there wasn't really a good time where Joss or Remus weren't around," he reasoned while I nodded.

"So why do you think this Dobby felt it necessary to warn you against coming back to the school. I mean what could possibly be worse than last year when you met Voldemort?" I asked in a hushed tone while Hermione and Ron shuddered.

"Dunno, but after all the effort I put in trying to convince Joss to let me stay, I didn't really want to bring it up," he said forcing me to agree again.

"Well, we will just have to keep an eye out for anything suspicious," I said before I heard my name being called.

"Marnie!" Lee whined from across the room. "Fred is cheating!"

"I am not!" Fred answered while I sighed and got up.

"Oh, and I'm glad you didn't get suspended!" I said which made Ron and Harry blush in embarrassment before I turned and walked over to referee between Lee and Fred.

XXXX

 **So Cedric finally made his debut and will be sticking around for a while!**

 **Very excited to be starting the next part of the story and as always, very happy to see more favourites, follows and reviews!**


	27. It Opens

The first week of school ended up being quite taxing, especially since it started out with Mrs. Weasley sending Ron a howler during breakfast. Harry had also gotten a letter from both dad and Remus, but although they had written that they were disappointed, Harry didn't get reamed out in front of the entire school. The worst thing however ended up being Defense Against The Dark Arts which was now taught by the biggest imbecile I had ever met.

"Makes you wish old Voldie was back doesn't it?" Fred asked after one class where I just sighed in response.

Despite being slightly astounded that Fred would bring up the subject of our previous teacher being a parasitic host for the Dark Lord himself, at least Quirrell had known what he was talking about. Gilderoy Lockhart was by all accounts, an idiot. He had given a pop quiz on the first day, the same quiz to every year, which posed personal questions such as 'What is Gilderoy's favourite colour? And 'What season best compliments Gilderoy Lockhart's wardrobe?' It was outright embarrassing for him and a nightmare for us. To top it all off, we were required to read from each of his books every night, which was seven in total. Usually classes assigned two books at most for the entire year and only used one at a time for particular lessons.

So, by Friday, I was already behind on my homework and fed up with everyone's bad mood. So, to be by myself for a while, I brought my books out to the quidditch pitch to study.

"Is this seat taken?" I heard a familiar voice ask after sitting out there a while.

"Cedric, what are you doing here?" I asked, having figured no one came out here much besides for games and practices.

"I should be asking you that. I've never see you out here like this before," he answered with a smile.

"You come out here a lot?" I asked lamely.

"Yea, the quidditch pitch is my favourite spot, plus it's usually pretty quiet," he explained while I nodded. "So, do you mind if I join you?"

"Oh, of course not!" I answered as I moved my mess of books out of the way.

"You're studying Defense too?" he asked with his own pile of books held up in his hands.

"It's just so ridiculous how he expects us to keep up. Especially when he doesn't even talk about the content in class. I mean seriously, if I have to hear another thing about his wardrobe again I think I'll scream," I exclaimed annoyed.

"Today he told us all about the pet kitten he had as a child," Cedric grimaced, causing me to shake my head in indignation.

We then fell into an amicable silence as Cedric opened one of his books and I turned back to mine. We stayed like that for at least an hour before I noticed the sun getting dangerously low.

"I guess we better turn in," Cedric said as if reading my mind.

We then packed up our books and headed into the castle.

"I guess I'll see you around," Cedric said with a smile once we made it to the main entrance.

"Yea, maybe we'll run into each other at the quidditch pitch again," I replied, noticing the continued smile on his face.

"I'd like that."

Cedric then left me standing outside the Great Hall as he entered. I felt a warm sensation cover my entire face which I literally tried to shake off. Maybe I was coming down with a cold or something.

XXX

Cedric and I did in fact meet up with each other as we came to study in peace at the quidditch pitch on a weekly basis. We usually did our Defense readings, but Cedric had also started helping me with Potions revision as apparently Snape didn't hate the Hufflepuffs as much as he loathed the Gryffindors.

"Happy Birthday Marnie," Cedric greeted one evening as he showed up to the quidditch pitch.

I saw him carrying something small under a handkerchief which I stared at with nervous anticipation.

"What is that?" I asked skeptically.

"It's your birthday present," he answered simply.

"You really didn't have to get me anything, my friends and I have a strict no gifts rule since there are far too many of us," I explained but Cedric only shook his head and smiled.

"Ah, well I was not privy to this rule, so you will just have to accept it," he replied easily.

He placed what felt like a small cage into my hand before I slowly pulled off the handkerchief.

"It's a fairy," he said while I looked at him in bafflement. "My dad works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures so he's spent my entire life telling me all about magical creatures and how to care for them. It's pretty easy to catch fairies."

"Are you allowed to?" I asked skeptically upon closer inspection of the creature.

It was quite beautiful as I noticed the luminescent glow of its skin.

"Well, I don't know how the teachers feel about them being kept as pets, but you can let it out anytime you like. I just figured you might want to see one up close," he explained.

"Well, thank-you," I answered, feeling that sudden warm sensation which had me dreading that I might be getting sick.

"I think I'm catching a cold."

"You know, we could meet up in the library instead to study," Cedric offered.

"But there are more people there, it would be more difficult to meet up by chance," I replied but noticed the rueful look he gave me.

"We could plan a meeting then," he responded simply while the warm sensation persisted across my face.

"Yea, I guess we could," I answered. "Alright, how about this Wednesday after Charms?"

"I look forward to it," he replied as I found I couldn't come up with anything else to say.

We then decided to walk back together while I remained in a nervous silence. He bid me good-bye in our usual spot outside of the Great Hall before I sighed and walked the fairy to my room before heading down for dinner.

"Where have you been off to?" Angelina asked once I sat down.

"Studying," I answered simply.

"We were in the library though, we didn't see you," Katie added.

"Oh, I was actually reading outside," I replied nervously since I hadn't actually told any of my friends yet that I had been meeting up with Cedric.

"It's a bit chilly out," Lee commented while I threw him an annoyed look.

"What's going on Hare?" Fred asked as he sensed my anxiety.

"Well, I've actually been meeting up with Cedric to study sometimes," I divulged which automatically cued a fit of giggles from Katie and Alicia.

"Why the hell are you hanging out with that git?" Fred asked rather unkindly, causing me to glare back at him.

"We have been over this Fred, Cedric is my friend. Plus, you apologized for being an idiot over the summer so let's move on," I replied sternly.

This prompted Fred to hold back his next comment.

"She's right Freddie, we did apologize," George added.

"Thank-you, now let's find another subject," I said with blatant intent.

"How could you not tell us you had it in with Cedric Diggory?" Alicia asked much to my annoyance of not changing the subject.

"We're just friends Leesh," I replied sourly.

"Yes, why don't we change the subject?" Fred asked more pressingly before Lee started talking about Gilderoy Lockhart and how he had regaled his story of taming werewolves today.

"He's such a moron," I said since I knew only too well how impossible that was.

XXX

Over the next month Fred remained uncharacteristically quiet about my study sessions with Cedric while the girls continued to pester me for details.

"Why don't you just go for it?" Katie asked one night as we all sat in our dorm.

"There's nothing to go for, we're just friends," I exclaimed just as I had all the other times she'd asked me.

"He got you a fairy, boys don't give their friends fairies. No one gives their friends fairies, they're hard to catch. It's all really quite romantic," Alicia added, even though Cedric had claimed the opposite.

I looked over to my bedside where the fairy was sleeping. I had tried to let it out of the cage the night of my birthday since I didn't know how fairies felt about captivity, but it hadn't bothered to leave. I had since left the small cage open on the windowsill so that it could fly away anytime, but almost a month later it was still here.

"You must think he's at least handsome," Alicia continued.

"Of course, but I'm not some girl that fawns over him. He's just a nice guy who became my friend. Plus, you never gave me this much trouble over being friends with Fred and George," I replied.

"Of course not, they're Fred and George, you're restricted access to them," Katie answered simply while I gave her an incredulous look.

I didn't really want to know what she meant.

"Well, I'm going to call it a night," I said before drawing the curtains closed before anyone could object.

The lights went out shortly after while I stared at the soft luminescent glow of my fairy, which I had secretly named Aster. I didn't know if fairies had genders, so I went for a more neutral namesake. I watched it sit on the small branch Cedric had placed in the cage and wondered what a fairy could possibly have to think about. Sometime during this however, I fell into a peaceful sleep.

XXX

The Halloween Feast soon arrived to everyone's excitement. I was extremely eager since I hadn't been able to enjoy it last year in lieu of being assaulted by a mountain troll. This also meant that Fred and George wouldn't leave my side. They even threatened Ron not to do anything stupid which made his ears turn red.

"Don't be mean to him," I chastised as we walked away from their group towards the Great Hall.

"Ron is prat by nature, and it nearly cost you your life," Fred retorted in a voice that sounded more like a growl.

"I highly doubt a mountain troll will enter the castle for the second year in a row," Lee offered but this just earned him a scowl from Fred and George both.

"Well I didn't think it would ever happen the first time," Fred replied which ended the debate.

We then entered the Great Hall and I couldn't help but gasp as I took in all the sweets and decorations.

"It all looks so good!" I exclaimed, running forward to an empty seat and started piling on the meal of only desserts.

"Slow down there Hare," Fred said half-heartedly with a grin.

"Speak for yourself," George added as he started to pile on his own plate.

The excitement of the students felt contagious as everyone enjoyed their food.

"Where's Harry and the others?" I asked since I hadn't yet seen them.

"Don't be asking that. I'm sure they're fine," Fred warned but I continued to look around.

"Hermione didn't even get to try the food last year," I added with a slight frown.

"We are not searching the castle for them, I'm sure they're alright," George offered.

"They have just as much luck as I have," I reasoned which caused Fred to scowl displeased.

"Drop it Hare, I'm sure they're okay," he said with more confidence than I felt.

"Marnie, they're with Nearly Headless Nick," Neville piped in while I turned to see him down the table.

"You see?" Fred continued but I just shook my head.

We then enjoyed the rest of the meal until we all were stuffed. It seemed the rest of the school was doing the same thing as most students got up at the same time we did once the dishes were cleared. I wasn't really paying attention as we all walked in an easy silence with our bellies full. I was surprised then when everyone seemed to stop in their tracks and I heard a few gasps up ahead.

I listened to the murmurs and heard the name Harry swapped around which kicked up my concern. This prompted me to start filing through the crowd before I heard the obnoxious sound of Draco Malfoy's voice saying something about 'mudbloods being next'.

"You hear that Squib, those with dirty blood ought to be watching themselves now," Marcus Flint whispered down at me as I unnoticeably walked by him.

My skin started to crawl at the blatant threat as I also noticed the writing on the wall written in blood. And of course, Harry, Ron and Hermione standing right in the center of it. I brushed by Flint without reacting to his threat and approached Harry who I knew had finally noticed me. However, I heard Dumbledore speak before I could ask my own questions. He ordered everyone back to their dormitories and to follow their prefects. This was immediately followed by Percy's no-nonsense voice rallying up the Gryffindors.

I stood rooted in place while I saw Harry being ushered away by Dumbledore and read the words on the wall, which had indeed been written in blood. What the hell was the Chamber of Secrets? Maybe this is what that Dobby had been warning Harry about…

There was definitely a heightened sense of anxiety going around the school since more and more people became aware of what the Chamber of Secrets was and what it meant for it to be opened. It had initially been assumed that Harry and the other two had somehow opened the chamber, but that rumour was thwarted when the knowledge of the Slytherin heir came about. This added to the uneasiness as some of the Slytherin students started indulging the rumours and threatening muggleborn students, or in my case, children of squibs. Flint and Malfoy were only too happy to go along with it all.

However, the anxiety was challenged by the impending quidditch game against Slytherin. The team had been practicing diligently all week in the rain, much to the annoyance of everyone except Oliver Wood, the team's captain.

The day of the match was no better as the rain poured down onto the pitch. This however, did not prevent most of the entire school from going down to watch the highly anticipated game. I was sitting with Neville, Ron and Hermione as we waited for the players to come out. Luna had also joined us, who was adorned in a fluorescent yellow rain jacket.

The teams soon came out and began underway at the distant sound of Madam Hooch's whistle. It was difficult to watch through the rain as each of the players disappeared behind the fog and heavy rainfall. However, after a while it seemed that Fred and George were spending an awful lot of time chasing the same bludger around.

"What's going on with that thing?" I asked Ron who only shrugged.

"It almost looks as if it's only following Harry," Hermione commented in a worried tone.

I only sighed in return since it wouldn't be the first time Harry was targeted during a match.

We watched Fred and George fail to rid of the bludger before a time out was finally called.

"Something's not right," I said as I failed to hear what anyone was talking about over the whistling wind. After a few minutes however, the Gryffindor team ended the time out and Harry went off alone, while Fred and George returned to play.

"What the hell are they doing?" I asked incredulously.

Hermione scoffed. "Oh, I'm sure it was Harry's idea to go off all alone."

Unfortunately, I couldn't disagree with her despite being annoyed with the twins. Harry was out there now looking as if he had lost control of his broom since he was constantly dodging the advances of the bludger. Hermione and I were sitting at the edge of our seats as we held hands for moral support.

"He's seen it," Ron shouted as we all watched Harry take off in a downward spiral.

Harry levelled off before hitting the ground and dismounted from his broom. I could hardly hear Lee over the rain announcing that Gryffindor had won. However, the bludger kept going and started to charge Harry who was now on the ground holding his arm. The bludger had already hit him once. Thankfully Madam Hooch was able to call the bludger away while we all started running to the pitch. Harry was lying still on the ground. When we arrived, though, Lockhart was sitting beside him and it looked like he had already tried to fix Harry's broken wrist.

Harry was staring at his arm in disgust since it was now able to bend at all angles.

"What did you do?" I demanded, sitting down next to Harry and looked at the professor in revulsion.

"This is the thanks I get?" he asked haughtily before turning away and retreating out of the crowd.

I scowled since that didn't even dignify as an answer but only further confirmed his incompetence. But his mauve coloured robes disappeared behind the crowd before I could tell him how I really felt.

"Bloody useless that one is," I muttered before turning back to Harry and helped Hagrid lift him to the hospital wing.

I really wish Harry could play a game of quidditch without his life being threatened.

Harry ended up staying the night in the hospital since he needed to regrow his bones. I was still fuming about Lockhart and wasn't ready to talk to the twins who had seemingly abandoned Harry, even if that wasn't really true. So, I went upstairs early that night and closed myself off in my bed. I ended up staring at Aster while they came out of their cage and sat on my chest. We stayed like this a while before I fell asleep at some point.

I had another dream where I was walking alone in the dungeon corridor, heading for the library.

"Well if it isn't Lena Tress, the stupidest half-blood there ever was," a voice said coolly as I noticed I was walking by the Slytherin common room.

My mother turned around to see a boy with white-blonde hair and an evil smile. He must have been in his seventh year and looked an awful like Draco Malfoy; this must be his father Lucius.

"Tell me Crabbe, what possesses a girl with bright prospects, despite being a Gryffindor, to decide to date a squib?" he asked his friend maliciously who had come to join him.

"Someone who disobeys the Dark Lord, that's who," the ugly boy answered with his own creepy grin.

"Shut it Malfoy," my mother hissed as she squared her shoulders against them.

"I mean, I can't blame you for not pursuing other prospects that came your way," he went on slyly.

"I said shut it," my mother continued with more volition.

"It's going to be such a waste when the Dark Lord has to rid of you for disobeying him," Lucius purred while he came purposefully closer.

But my mother stayed rooted in her place before taking her wand out at him.

"At least I stand up for my own right, while you just stand there going from your father's orders to You Know Who's. It's pathetic how you think you are your own man when you have never once had your own thought, let alone acted in your own conscience," my mother said coldly.

"There are things I know that you couldn't even comprehend," Lucius spat with his stark face flushed red.

"At least my own knowledge didn't cost me my dignity," my mother finished while stepping back to return the way she had come.

"I will see to it that you and that squib boyfriend of yours are dead at my feet," Lucius yelled back but my mother kept walking away until they disappeared out of sight.

I woke up with a start, much to Aster's annoyance. They had fallen asleep on my chest and found that I had rudely waken them.

I hadn't had any dreams since last year, and that had meant Voldemort had been roaming the castle. I laid there until the sun peaked through the window going over the possibilities of what my dream could have meant. Plus, I thought maybe the bludger and this Dobby-elf might all be connected. And then there was the obvious point of the Chamber of Secrets opening. What a disaster.


	28. Voices

The following Wednesday I was sitting in the library with Cedric as we soldiered through our Defense Readings. This week was all about Basilisks and how Lockhart is apparently the only person to have seen one alive in the last century. I was beginning to wonder who had edited these books to even get them to print since these stories were obviously bogus. I would have to write about it to dad in my next letter and ask about his own editing and how this could have ever happened. Unfortunately, since the books did go to print, and they were assigned, Cedric and I were stuck reading through them on a rare sunny day in November. Although it was quite cool outside, I could see several bundled students walking around near the Black Lake.

"So, how did your dads react when they found out about the Chamber of Secrets being opened?" Cedric asked as he closed one of his books before opening the next one.

"Dads?" I asked, wondering what he meant. "Oh, you mean Remus. He's actually my uncle, but close enough I guess. He didn't seem too concerned in comparison to my father. I think Dumbledore had to send dad a personalized letter stating that it is still in Harry's and my best interest to stay at Hogwarts."

"Sorry, I just assumed they were together," Cedric said while I shrugged.

It wasn't that far off to assume Remus was my father or even that he was my dad's partner considering they practically lived together and were raising Harry and me alone.

"My dad was actually pleased since he figured it gave me a chance to protect my fellow Hufflepuff's," Cedric said but I noticed his embarrassed blush.

"Your dad sure is proud of you," I said, but this caused Cedric to expel an exasperated sigh.

"I just wish he wasn't always bragging about things that haven't even happened. Sometimes I feel I'm not going to meet all his expectations and I will just end up failing him," Cedric admitted in a soft voice.

"That will never happen. I can tell your dad thinks the world of you and that's why he boasts, it's not because he expects anything from you," I said confidently.

"You think so?"

"Yea, I can tell just by the way he looks at you, you're his entire world," I said more warmly.

As much as Mr. Diggory seemed a little too brazen at times, I felt he was fairly harmless. He just wanted Cedric to have everything he could ever want.

"Well, I guess that's been true since my mother died when I was five," Cedric said softly.

I felt my hands start to sweat at the mention of his mother.

"I'm so sorry," I offered sincerely.

As difficult as my mother's situation was, she was still alive.

"Thank-you. And it's okay you know, you don't have to tell me about your mother, I'm not telling you this to expect any kind of reciprocation. I just wanted you to know," Cedric explained.

"Thank-you," I returned the sentiments, feeling my heart rate start to go down. "Maybe another time?"

"Of course. If ever you are ready I'm here to listen."

I stared at Cedric for a few moments. The twins were always kind and patient with me, along with my other friends, but it seemed almost sincerer coming from someone like Cedric.

He was definitely more than just the heartthrob all of the other girls deemed him to be, he seemed to be a truly kind-hearted person.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Katie, Alicia and Angelina approach us from behind before they decided to sit down a few tables over. I locked eyes with Ange who gave me an apologetic look while the other two were incessantly giggling. I knew I shouldn't have told them about my meeting with Cedric today until afterwards. More surprisingly though Fred, George and Lee followed moments later with the twins both giving me disapproving looks.

Cedric must have noticed my diverted attention because he turned around and spotted my friends.

"They still don't trust me, do they?" Cedric asked about the twins as I turned my attention back to him.

"They're just being prats," I said shaking my head.

"They care a lot for you," Cedric shrugged as if he wasn't fazed by the hostility he was receiving from them. "Plus, you seem to spend all your time with them and mastermind some of their pranks," he added while I feigned innocence.

"What ever do you mean?" I asked casually.

"I do recall that a certain prankster somehow opened the Hufflepuff common room in our first year and dungbombed us," he added while I felt myself blush. "How did you manage to open the door anyways?"

"I knocked," I answered casually with a smirk.

"But if you get the knock wrong you get drenched in vinegar," he said while I thanked Merlin that hadn't happened to me.

Then I got an idea for my next prank.

"Want to call it a day?" Cedric asked, maybe sensing that my brain was already figuring out the execution for my prank.

"Sure, meet up next Wednesday?" I asked with a smile, to which he easily returned.

"Sounds great," he answered before he packed up his things and left the library.

I then walked over to my friends and took a seat. Alicia and Katie were still watching the spot where Cedric had left even though he was already out of sight.

"Pretty boy leaving so soon?" Fred asked in a voice that sounded like he had a bad taste in his mouth.

"Oh, forget him," I said, not having any energy to put up with Fred's childishness. "I have a prank for the Hufflepuffs."

This automatically changed Fred's mood who leaned over to hear my plan. I proceeded to hunch over in a whispered huddle with the twins and Lee while I filled them in. Twenty minutes later we were exiting the library despite Alicia and Katie called out asking me to stay and tell them details on Cedric. I didn't even turn around to acknowledge their ridiculous request.

We were walking down the kitchen corridor while Lee made sure no one was coming on the map. Once the coast was clear he gave our usual cue and Fred went to the door.

"Now remember, third log from the bottom. Knock three times, pause, and then two more times," I whispered.

Fred nodded back at me and started knocking. He paused a moment to wait for the door to open but instead the upper log opened on a top hinge, pouring a large vat of vinegar on top him. I hit the ground laughing hysterically as Fred just stood there in utter shock. I could hear Lee and George laughing just as hard from behind me but Fred started to come to his senses. This was my cue to leave.

I quickly stood up and bolted for the Gryffindor common room. Unfortunately, I could hear and smell Fred which meant he was only a few paces behind me. Once I was through the portrait hole I sprinted to the girl's staircase where I stood just out of reach in a taunting fashion.

Fred rushed to the bottom of the staircase, followed closely by George and Lee who were still laughing.

"You can't stay up there forever Hare," Fred called with a scowl.

"I can stay here as long as it takes for you to shower. I'm sure the guys won't let you up without a good hose down," I countered with glee.

I was quite proud that I had gotten the one up on Fred.

"Oi, Fred, you smell foul," Angelina said as she passed the boys and came to stand beside me while covering her nose.

"Thanks for that bit of information Ange, I had no idea," Fred replied sarcastically but Angelina just shrugged.

"Well I better be off," I said turning to follow Ange up the stairs.

"Yea, you better hide," Fred called out while I could still hear the boys howling in laughter.

I turned around one last time to stick my tongue out at him before disappearing up the stairs and into our dorm. I would have to thank Cedric for the idea, and make sure Fred never finds out that Cedric had any part in it.

XXX

Unfortunately, the excitement and merriment caused by the prank was short lived when students started becoming petrified. This of course spouted a whole new argument with my dad about letting us stay at Hogwarts. Apparently even Dobby the elf had been back to warn Harry to leave. I had to admit, as much as Hogwarts was my favourite place in the entire world, things weren't looking too great. Harry's situation was only heightened when we learned he was a Parseltongue at the Dueling club, in front of the entire school no less. Now everyone thought he was the heir of Slytherin or some such nonsense. Another issue to deal with besides all the above was that we had started to notice Ginny's odd behaviour. She had been almost hysterical when Ron and Harry had stolen her dad's car and her mood hadn't really changed since. This seemed especially unusual since Ginny had been raving about attending Hogwarts all summer.

"Maybe we should take her to Honeydukes?" George suggested one day as we all walked down the hall.

"I think something else is bothering her, she's not homesick," I replied as we turned the corner to find a group of huddled students.

Blatantly, they all seemed to be shouting at each other.

"Oh no," I whispered only to take off running a moment later towards the fringe of dark hair I could see sticking up over the group of Hufflepuffs.

"You did it! You're the heir of Slytherin," one idiot Hufflepuff was spouting as he pointed his finger at Harry.

I rushed over and stood between Harry and the boy with Fred and George following close behind me.

"Why don't you go find something better to do, I hear you lot are good at that," George said starkly to the boy.

He was interrupted of any retort as Professor McGonagall came rushing and saw the petrified boy on the ground whom Harry was standing beside. I also noticed Nearly Headless Nick had somehow also been petrified as he was floating near the body of the boy. McGonagall ordered the idiot Hufflepuff to use a fan to blow Nick up the stairs while she attended to the petrified boy until Madam Pomfrey arrived. McGonagall then whisked Harry away before I could ask him anything.

Everything since the moment I had run towards Harry seemed to have gone by in a flash and now I was left with nothing else to do but wait. So, I walked back to the common room with the twins to wait for Harry's return.

When Harry did arrive through the portrait hole later I ran up to him followed closely by Hermione and Ron.

"What happened?" I asked anxiously as I had been worried Dumbledore might believe the ludicrous rumours about Harry being the Heir of Slytherin.

"He believes me that I'm not the heir," Harry said, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Did you tell him anything else?" I asked, knowing Harry had a lot of secrets at the moment.

"No, I didn't tell him about the Polyjuice plan to prove my innocence, or that I hear voices in the walls," he whispered with fervor and a pointed look.

We had disagreeing opinions on whether Harry should tell Dumbledore about everything that had been going on recently. Harry told me weeks ago that he had started hearing whispers inside the walls of the school and that they were also homicidal in nature. I thought it was a little out of our depth since none of us had any idea what it meant, except for the fact that Harry would be carted off to St. Mungo's if anyone ever found out. Dumbledore seemed like the safest option. I hadn't even told the twins about the trio's scheme, it almost seemed too dangerous.

The one thing the twins were good at was cheering up Harry. Over the next week they acted like his bodyguards and hyped up the whole Slytherin Heir thing. They told students who looked mistrusting towards Harry that Harry was out choosing prospective victims. With the whole thing blown out of proportion, it almost seemed comical.

However, the one thing that was proving stubbornly difficult was my dad. He had written to us every day asking for an update about the school. It was obvious how worried he was about the two of us, which was understandable, but it almost made me wish he wasn't so in tune with the wizarding world, like Hermione's parents.

"Hey Marnie, you should read this," Harry said one morning in mid-December.

It was a letter from Remus.

Dear Harry and Marnie,

I hope you two are doing well and staying out of trouble, given the circumstances. I wanted to take the rare opportunity with Joss out of the house to advise that the two of you stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas holiday. It has come to my attention that the Weasley's will also be spending their holiday at the castle and it might be in your best interest to stay with them. I know how much that school can mean to someone, especially someone who has had a difficult childhood, so despite the Chamber of Secrets being opened I still think you should stay.

I also write this to tell you that Joss has been vocal about his intention to try and keep you at the cottage after the holidays. I have tried talking to him about it, but you know how he worries. He hasn't had it easy either.

If you two do decide to stay it will negate the decision and I feel the three of you will be better suited having taken that conversation off the table.

If it helps I will be incapacitated this Christmas with my 'hairy little problem' so you do not have to worry about me.

I love you both and look forward to seeing you over the summer holidays.

Sincerely,

Remus

I finished reading the letter and looked up at Harry. We had already had this conversation and were unsure of whether to return for Christmas. As much as the two of us enjoyed spending the holidays back at the cottage, we were afraid of what conversations my dad might try to incite. As well, there was the whole Polyjuice scheme and it looked like it would be ready just before the break.

"We stay?" I asked as I looked up at Harry.

"We stay," he replied with a nod.


	29. Christmas at Hogwarts

The twins were ecstatic when I told them Harry and I were going to stay for Christmas. As they put it, this meant that they didn't have to suffer through a second Christmas with just Ron and Percy. Ginny would also be staying, but she was still being uncharacteristically timid and always seemed to be upset. It also looked like she hadn't been sleeping.

Hermione had also decided to stay since she was part of the Polyjuice scheme and they were determined to figure out who the actual Heir of Slytherin was.

The days leading up to the break were uneventful and by the time the rest of the school had left, I found myself starting to relax. This was despite the fact however, that my father had been extremely upset when Harry and I had told him our decision to stay for the holidays, Ginny acting on edge, and Harry having an identity crisis while simultaneously trying to reveal the Heir of Slytherin. It also didn't help that since the entire school was determined that Harry was in fact the heir, Harry was also starting to believe he shouldn't have been sorted into Gryffindor. He had told me this one night after everyone went to bed, but I didn't think he had told this to Hermione or Ron yet.

XXX

Christmas morning was met with a cool draft, heightened by the fact that I was the only one sleeping in the dorm. It also took me a moment to realize I had been woken by the sound of something pelting at the door. Skeptically, I got out of bed and opened it cautiously to find bits of broken quills and rubbish piled up on the ground.

"I'll be down in a minute!" I hollered at the boys who were no doubt waiting for me to accompany them for breakfast.

I went back to my bed and noticed the small pile of presents at its foot. I frowned slightly as I knew this was a tradition for a lot of families, but one my father stoutly dismissed. Instead, he believed in spending every moment of Christmas morning together and watching the expression of everyone as they opened their gifts. My stomach fell picturing my father all alone. Remus would be recovering in bed or off somewhere in the woods while my dad would probably be sitting alone with his cup of tea.

I tried to push these thoughts away as I noticed his familiar scrawl on one of the presents. I took it in my hands and carefully opened the small sack. Inside were dried purple hyacinths; the forgiveness flower. This caused tears to tinge my eyes before I wiped them away and smiled. This meant, although in his own particular way, that my father wasn't angry about Harry and I staying here, or at least he wasn't anymore.

I was even more pleased since purple hyacinths are used in potions for healing small cuts as well as love potions. I would have to crush them up later and store them in my trunk.

Next was one from Remus which was another book on Defense Against The Dark Arts. I almost laughed out loud when I read the title: The Real Lessons in Defense Against The Dark Arts.

Hopefully this would help in learning something useful. I had written to Remus about Professor Lockhart's lecture on werewolves to which Remus had replied I needed a proper education away from this obvious fraud.

Harry and I had decided we didn't need to get each other anything this year, along with the rest of my friends. But I noticed the last package which I eagerly opened to reveal my standard orange sweater from Mrs. Weasley. I had grown out of my old one by the fall, so I had been eagerly awaiting a replacement. I was also pleasantly surprised to reveal a homemade carrot cake which was also my favourite. I put it off to the side to bring down and share with the others once I was ready, but I noticed a small package which had been covered by the others. I picked it up curiously and read the tag.

 _To Marnie,_

 _You still didn't tell me specifically 'no presents'_

 _Happy Christmas_

 _~Cedric_

I felt like a fool that he had found this loophole and that I hadn't gotten him anything in return. Despite this, I opened the small little box to uncover a very handsome looking quill.

There was another note inside.

My father has been working with hippogriffs this summer and I had a few feathers saved.

I inspected the grey-hewed feather flecked with black and gold. It was very beautiful and extremely extravagant. Since hippogriffs are very proud creatures with a level three classification, their feathers are not often used for quills. I carefully stowed it away in my trunk before quickly getting ready and bringing my carrot cake downstairs.

It seemed that Harry had gotten a plum cake from Mrs. Weasley as well which created a nice Christmas breakfast for all of us. We even tried to eat some of the treacle fudge that Hagrid had made for Harry, but it needed to be melted on the fire first so as to not chip our teeth. Once we stuffed ourselves I followed the twins outside to play in the snow. Harry and the other two second years were too worried about their plans for tonight while Ginny and Percy seemed to have better things to do. I was kind of hurt that Ginny flatly denied my invitation, but then again, I knew there was something bothering her. I would have to take some time over the holidays to talk to her.

It was a glorious afternoon with the shining sun and thick snow. We built an impressive fort with a look out, a dungeon, and a trick door built into it. By the time the sun was setting we made our way back to the castle to change and head down for dinner.

"Look at all the food!" I exclaimed when I entered the Great Hall with George and Fred.

"Oh yea, you missed out last year," George said as we took our seats.

"This was definitely the best thing about having to stay here last year," Fred added.

"Still doesn't beat mum's cooking," Ron piped in.

"Of course not, you idiot," Fred answered in an annoyed tone.

"Be nice," I said reproachfully but my constant defense for Ron's sake had all but lost its meaning by now.

"In the spirit of Christmas, I will agree to behave and ignore my brother's glaring idiocy," Fred continued but did so very reluctantly.

"You're unbelievable," I said but unable to stop my victorious smile.

We spent the rest of the meal stuffing our faces with every type of food imaginable. I had roast beef, turkey, ham, and casserole served with potatoes, yams, turnips, carrots and peas. This was followed by more carrot cake, pumpkin pie, plum pudding and treacle fudge.

By the time we were done Fred was dragging me by the hand in an attempt to coax me up the stairs. I felt much too heavy on my feet and was thankful to see the plush couches by the time we reached the common room. I plopped down into the loveseat beside the fire and pulled one of the faded quilts over me. I don't think I had ever been so full in my life. Fred sat beside me and pulled me close so I laid on his chest while he talked to George. Fred started to stroke my hair casually which caused me to close my eyes and forget all about the fact that Harry was currently disguised as Gregory Goyle somewhere interviewing Draco Malfoy about him being the Heir of Slytherin. I didn't even know when I fell asleep, but I hadn't felt that relaxed in a long time.

I was even more surprised when I woke up the next morning in our makeshift fort in Fred and George's room. The curtains were all closed except for the middle ones which is where I was laying. George was still asleep on my left while I saw Fred stirring on my right.

I rolled over, so I was facing him and put my thumb on finger on his nose and waited. Moments later he was gasping for breath.

"You trying to kill me Hare?" he asked groggily while rubbing his eyes, a smile already apparent on his face.

"How did I get here?" I asked.

"I carried you of course," he said simply.

"Why?"

"Because I can't climb the girl's stairs and you don't deserve to sleep on the couch," he answered.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I continued.

"Because you looked so peaceful," he answered softly.

I stopped my interrogation and just looked at him. It had been very sweet of him to carry me up to their dorm without waking me and allowing me to sleep in their beds. Plus, the three of us hadn't done this since last year. It was also nice to do this without there being some sort of crisis.

This thought then brought me to think of Harry and the others.

I got out of bed, but not before rolling over a disgruntled George who tried to push me off the bed before rolling over and covering his head with his pillow. I went back to my dorm and got dressed before heading back down. I poked my head in the second-year dorm on my way down and was surprised to see Hermione's bed was empty. This made me feel uneasy about what had happened last night. But before I continued down to go find Harry I stopped by the first-year dorm and found Ginny already dressed and sitting on her bed.

"Good-morning Gin," I greeted but she only looked startled that I had interrupted her staring into space.

I could also see the purple circles under her eyes; I think she was getting worse.

"Can we talk?" I asked prompting her to look at me skeptically.

"I guess," she answered after several moments pause.

I took the half-hearted answer in stride and sat down across from her.

"What's been going on?" I asked directly since I figured it was passed the point of beating around the bush.

"Nothing," she answered unconvincingly.

"Come on Ginny, we've all noticed that something has been going on," I continued as I left it open for her to explain.

I was still unconvinced it was homesickness.

"I'm worried about Harry," she blurted before she covered her mouth as if she had said something she shouldn't.

"We all know he's not the Heir of Slytherin Ginny, and the whole school will figure that out soon enough," I explained while watching the girl worriedly.

"But he's going to get hurt," she urged, making me feel like I was missing some key point.

"Well, he is prone to danger, but I'm sure it'll all be okay," I tried to soothe her while she shook her head.

"You don't understand, he's in danger!" she continued with tears welling up in her eyes.

I moved over and put my arms around her. It felt as if the younger girl had more to say, or at least I was missing some crucial detail, but Ginny had stopped talking at this point. She was now sobbing in my embrace while I stroked her hair to try and calm her down. It was twenty minutes later before she stopped and at that point I didn't want to bring it up again, she was obviously high strung about whatever was going on. Plus, since the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, I didn't have to know this secret detail to realize that Harry was some sort of target in all of this, especially since his name was being thrown in the ring for being responsible.

I walked down the stairs nearly an hour after I entered the first-year dorm with Ginny who had puffy eyes but hadn't said a word since she started crying. I was holding her hand and shook my head at the twins who looked at her skeptically. Thankfully they took the hint and the four of us instead went down to the Great Hall in silence.

I was thankful to see Harry and Ron already sitting and eating breakfast. This also seemed to lighten Ginny's mood, if only slightly, since she let go of my hand and went to sit beside Percy.

"Where's Hermione?" I asked the two boys who in return looked slightly embarrassed.

"Well, the potion went a little wrong for her," Ron whispered as I sat down and leaned over towards them.

"She used cat hair," Harry continued while I took a moment to realize what that meant.

"She turned into a cat?!" I asked wildly, causing them both to shush me.

I felt terrible for Hermione who had spear-headed the whole scheme and was now confined to a hospital bed with curtains around it for privacy.

"So, is it Draco?" I asked eagerly but watched as their faces fall.

"No," they answered dejectedly.

"Does he know who it is?"

"No, it was useless!" Harry answered in a frustrated tone.

I sighed and felt even worse than I had when I found out about Hermione, it had all be for naught.

The boys continued to brood while Ginny stayed silent beside Percy with a far-off gaze. My morning which had started off happily had quickly soured.

XX

This continued to be the theme for the next few months as the fear associated with the Chamber of Secrets remained and everyone around seemed to be soaking it in. Even though Harry and the others had disproven the Draco theory they had somehow replaced it with an even more disturbingly posited one that suggested Hagrid; I had outright refused to believe this.

It was now February and worse than ever it was being topped off when Professor Lockhart hatched another one of his imbecilic plans and arranged to have grumpy looking dwarfs deliver valentine cards amongst the students. Apparently, the miserable mood brought by the petrification of our classmates could be uplifted with this expert plan. I couldn't even fathom his level of idiocy; neither could the other professors who were enraged with the presence of the dwarves constantly interrupting their classes on February fourteenth to deliver pink and red coloured love declarations.

We were sitting in Potions class when an extremely hairy looking dwarf with wonky looking wings barged in and delivered a valentine to Katie. Her cheeks ended up turning the colour of Lockhart's fuchsia pink robes as she hurriedly tried to stash the letter into her bag. Unfortunately for her, George grabbed the letter and we figured out quite quickly that it had come from Lee. We all almost lost it right in the middle of Snape's lecture which caused him to send us death glares while Lee sank down in his seat with his head in his hands.

Angelina also ended up getting one from a first year named Dennis who apparently had a crush in her from watching her on the quidditch pitch. It was pretty cute, especially when we saw him staring at her during lunch and then turning away in a blush when he noticed our attention was turned on him.

The best though was when Harry had apparently received a singing valentine in the middle of the Charms corridor on his way to class. The twins had been there and had subsequently been singing it every chance they got, typically when Harry was within ear shot. I could see Harry was even more irritated than usual and tried to convince the twins to lay off, even if it was hilarious.

The most surprising though was on my way to dinner when one of the straggling dwarfs came up to me in a gruff manner by harshly pulling on my robes. I stopped and looked down at the cupid impersonator to see him extending a letter towards me. I took it which allowed for the dwarf to let go and disappear down the hall. I turned the envelope over in my hands before ripping it open and reading the script.

Meet me in the Astronomy Tower for a night you'll never forget, 1900hrs

That was all the letter said.

I had half a mind to think it was Marcus Flint creating a plot and to just toss the letter. But another, more curious part, wondered if it might be Cedric. He always seemed to be doing nice things for me and the way he wrote was similar to this, short and to the point.

I decided to tuck the letter into my robes and headed towards the Great Hall with a smile plastered on my face. I couldn't help but think about the letter all throughout and had a hard time focusing on the conversations around me.

"Coming back to the common room Marn?" Angelina asked.

I hadn't noticed the others were already finished and were all standing.

"I'll meet you up there," I answered.

The others didn't press the subject further which I had found surprising and waited until they had left. I then stood up with the letter clutched in my pocket and headed towards the Astronomy Tower. It wasn't long before I entered the east corridor and headed towards the staircase. There was an evident chill in the air as I noticed a window had carelessly been left open and now there was a puddle of water which I'm sure at one point had been a heap of snow. I walked over to try and close it since I could feel the chill running through my body and was giving me shivers. Unfortunately, I was born without the blessing of great height and fumbled around as I stood on my tiptoes trying to bring the latch down. The water was also, unfortunately, icy which I found out when my feet came out from under me. I was face down on the ground before I could register anything else. Irritated, cold and sore, I tried to raise myself up. This was instantly thwarted however when I realized my wrist hurt enough to indicate that it was sprained.

Sighing, I raised my hand for inspection and contemplated forgoing the rendezvous with this mystery person to head for the hospital wing instead. But when I looked down to push myself up with my good hand I saw two bright yellow eyes reflected back at me in the icy waters.

 **I just wanted to point out that I know this chapter went a little off course from the book, but I wanted it to match up with Marnie on Valentine's day which meant Harry couldn't have the diary at this point. Just switched the timeline a little but I think it still reads similarly. I am also very pleased with this chapter since this is another plot point I knew was coming from the beginning.**


	30. A Very Unhappy Birthday

"The voice!" Harry exclaimed as the three friends walked back from dinner.

Before Hermione or Ron could say anything in response Harry took off running back down the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Ron asked with his breath coming out as laboured panting alongside Harry.

"It's going to attack!" Harry shouted, ignoring Ron's question.

Hermione and Ron shared a worried expression but kept running alongside Harry. They all rounded the corner towards the east wing before Harry stopped cold in his tracks. This caused Ron to run right into him and ended up on the floor.

"Maybe a little warning?" Ron asked grumpily as he picked himself up.

Hermione however shushed Ron and pointed towards the other end of the hall.

"There's been another attack," Ron stated in a frightened voice. He was starting to pick up on the trend that it always seemed to be the three of them discovering the bodies of petrified students.

Hermione nodded but kept pointing at the crumpled figure.

Harry was rooted in place.

"Wait, is that Marnie?" Ron asked causing Hermione to become annoyed since it was obvious Harry was taking this much worse than anything else that had happened this year already.

Harry ignored the both of them and finally started walking towards the familiar body. His sister looked lifeless and Harry found he couldn't breathe. What if she was dead? The entire school knew her father was a squib and Flint had even said something to her about it when the chamber had first opened. Plus, Malfoy was always running his mouth about there being killings next. It _couldn't_ be her.

Marnie was the only person who he felt truly understood him. She knew when he was keeping something from her, but she also knew not to pry and let him come to her. She was kind, patient, and caring amongst their group of friends but also fiercely protective. Harry knew that Marnie worried excessively about him and did everything to prevent worse things from happening. But above all she was his sister and Harry didn't have the nerve to be able to bend down and check if she was still breathing.

Harry was slightly brought out of his trance at the notice that Ron was talking with someone. Harry let his frustration start to surface since he couldn't bear the thought of being accused of hurting Marnie. But he stopped short at the sight of Fred Weasley. His face was as white as a ghost as he just stared down at Marnie, much like Harry had been doing.

It seemed as if they had been standing there for an infinite amount of time. Harry still couldn't touch Marnie, but he was now kneeling beside her as he felt tears fall down his cheeks. Fred was sitting opposite him with a horrified expression. Harry had no idea where Hermione or Ron had gone off to but at least one of them, probably Hermione, had had the sense to go and get a professor.

Flitwick was now running down the hall looking harried and frantic.

"She's only petrified my dear boy," Flitwick finally exclaimed sadly before he put a levitation charm on her.

Harry let out the breath he had been holding and merely nodded. He then followed Marnie up the stairs being guided by Flitwick.

However, Fred and Harry were turned away from the hospital wing since Madam Pomfrey wanted to assess Marnie for any risks; Harry didn't have the energy to argue the point. So, the four Gryffindors skulked back to the common room instead where they were greeted by their friends. George was the first to sense trouble.

"What's going on Fred?" he asked seriously already having assessed Fred's expression.

"It's Hare," he choked out.

"No!" Angelina exclaimed coming over to see what was going on.

"Is she…?" Lee stopped short, scared to ask about the fate of his friend.

"Petrified," Harry answered before walking past the group and heading upstairs.

Ron followed him shortly after and was joined by Neville. Both boys remained quiet as they sat with Harry on each of their beds. There was nothing to say to each other that they didn't already know. Each boy cared deeply for Marnie and were devastated that she had been attacked.

Harry's despair gradually turned to anger as he thought about the person who had done this, who was unleashing this demonic _thing_ that preyed to kill the students. Without a word Harry got up from the foot of his bed and stormed out of the room. Neville and Ron looked at each other quizzically before following him out.

"Hermione," Harry called out as he looked around the common room.

"She went out mate," George replied in a rather dejected tone.

"What?" Harry asked disbelievingly, Marnie had just been attacked. How could she be so reckless to go back out at night when the Heir of Slytherin was obviously on the prowl. Not to mention that Hermione ranked fairly high on possible targets.

"She said she had to look in the library for something," Alicia added.

"Is she out of her mind, it's almost curfew and Marnie was just attacked!" Ron added sounding rather hysterical.

Harry and Ron then ran out of the common room before they could hear the protests from the others. However, they weren't two feet out the door when they came toe-to-toe with Professor McGonagall. The professor had a grave look which made Harry's stomach sink even farther, as if that were possible.

"Potter. Weasley," she sounded surprised but solemn. "I have to address the common room, something else has happened."

Harry had already guessed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention?" Professor McGonagall announced once she stepped into the common room, commanding the attention of all the students before they fell into a hushed silence. "There have been three more attacks this evening."

The professor's tone was grave as she addressed her house.

"Three!" several students exclaimed, many of whom hadn't found out about Marnie yet.

"Things are looking quite severe at this point and I must tell you that if the person responsible is not caught quickly, the school will have no choice but to close," McGonagall explained gravely.

Harry felt as if his entire world was threatening to cave in around him. Marnie was petrified, Hermione was most presumably also petrified, and now it was a very real possibility that he was to go back and live the rest of his life with his aunt and uncle without the use of magic until he was of age. Maybe Joss and Remus would be able to adopt him, but who knows how long that would take since they hadn't had any success in the past.

Professor McGonagall then went on to announce new rules that were to be effective immediately, including an earlier curfew and the need to be escorted between classes by a professor. Once she had ended she came over to where Harry and Ron were standing and beckoned them to follow her.

When they reached the hospital wing Harry could feel his stomach sink to the floor. Professor McGonagall pulled back a curtain to reveal a very still looking Hermione. Apparently, she had been holding a mirror in her hand which confused Harry even more than he already felt. Marnie lay beside Hermione in the next bed. Apparently, they had both been assessed by Madam Pomfrey by this point and were now allowed to receive visitors.

Harry looked up to see that Fred and George had also followed Professor McGonagall and were now sitting by Marnie's bed. I guess it made sense they were able to visit since they were her best friends. Harry also couldn't help but remember that Fred had appeared moments after they had found Marnie, which was surprising since he had thought Fred had gone up with the other fourth years when they all left the Great Hall. But Harry was feeling too exhausted and overwhelmed to question him about it at this point. Plus, it wasn't like Fred was the one who was responsible, he would never harm Marnie.

XXX

The next month dragged by with uncertainty. Most of the other students were scared and sullen as they feared they may be attacked next. Very few people now believed that Harry was the heir since Marnie and Hermione had both been attacked, and when Harry had been seen somewhere else no less. But this didn't really do anything to lift his spirits.

"We should go talk to Hagrid," Harry announced one day as he and Ron sat in the common room.

It also happened to be the twins' birthday, and by late afternoon they still hadn't surfaced from their dorm. Harry knew that they had not taken Marnie's condition very well and had been uncharacteristically quiet, mostly keeping to themselves. Harry didn't blame them though, he was barely keeping it together as it was.

"Are you sure?" Ron asked sceptically.

This hadn't been the first time Harry suggested this, but Harry felt more determined this time.

"Yes, time is running out and he is our only lead," Harry answered confidently.

Ron nodded, feeling just as futile for doing something. Both of them set out for the gamekeeper's cabin before they could voice many of the reasons telling them to believe Hagrid was innocent and to just drop it.

"Hagrid?" Harry called out as he knocked on the large wooden door.

It took a moment for the half-giant to appear at the door with a cross bow aimed right at them, nearly sending Ron toppling onto his backside.

"Hagrid!" Ron yelped feeling only slightly relieved once the gamekeeper quickly lowered his weapon and ushered the boys in.

" _You shouldn' be out 'ere, it's gettin' late_!" Hagrid exclaimed but nonetheless invited the boys to take a seat at his table.

"We have to ask you something important," Harry pressed.

Instead of answering Hagrid placed the weapon against the wall and joined the boys. He was obviously nervous which only heightened when there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Do you have the cloak?" Hagrid asked hurriedly motioning for Harry to put it over them as he reached back for his crossbow.

Thankfully Harry had figured they would be getting back past the earlier curfew and brought it along. Him and Ron moved over to the far corner of the wooden hut. He had no idea who had Hagrid feeling so on edge but Harry certainly wasn't expecting it to be Professor Dumbledore who entered followed closely by a professional looking man.

"That's dad's boss!" Ron whispered while Harry continued to stare at the men.

Harry and Ron stood in the corner, somewhat horrified as they listened to the men talk to Hagrid about being arrested and coming quietly to Azkaban. It only got worse when Lucius Malfoy walked in and handed Dumbledore an Order of Suspension.

Harry couldn't believe it as he watched two of his mentors being carted out of the hut as if they were criminals. But before Hagrid stepped out, he started talking aloud, knowingly towards the boys.

" _Fer any answers yer may wan' ter follow the spiders_ ," he said vaguely. " _An' someone will have ter feed Fang_."

Moments later all four men were gone, and the two boys were left standing under the cloak. They waited several minutes to make sure no one came back before they finally pulled it off. The look on Ron's face was troubling to say the least since it resembled the time he had vomited slugs in their first year.

"Why did it have to be spiders?" he whined, anxiety filling his voice.

"Come on!" Harry thought that was the least of their concerns and pulled hastily at his friend's hand and beckoned Fang.

XXX

"Some birthday this is," Fred huffed at the fact him and George had spent the day sitting in their dorm.

Lee had spent the morning with them, trying to cheer them up, but had since gone off to find Katie and the others. Fred knew that the others were worried about Marnie, but it didn't seem to compare to how debilitating it was for Fred and George. They hadn't bothered with setting up any pranks recently since Marnie wouldn't be able to see their success (or failure). It had been a very long 45 days.

"Ready to go and see Marnie?" George asked while Fred peered forlornly out the window.

The sun was already setting which he found somewhat surprising. Time seemed to drag by without their best friend being able to wake up, but it also seemed to not have any bearing. Fred constantly found himself not knowing the time as his friends dragged him between meals and class.

Before Marnie, it had always been just Fred and George against the world. Of course, they loved their family, but it always seemed that all they ever needed was each other. But that all changed when Marnie entered their lives. He knew how George felt, especially since he knew that George's greatest fear now included losing Marnie. But now Fred was faced with his own feelings and vowed never to take his best friend's presence for granted once she was revived.

Fred nodded at his brother and headed down towards the common room. None of their friends were there which Fred silently felt thankful for since he had started to find it irritating how they looked at him with pity. There was no doubt it would be worse on their birthday.

When they finally made it to the hospital wing they were surprised to find it locked. George knocked on the door. They knew there was still at least an hour before curfew.

A frazzled looking Madam Pomfrey answered the door and stared sadly at the boys.

"I'm sorry you two but we are no longer allowing visitors," her voice was sullen.

"Why not?" Fred asked with only a half-hearted attempt to try to check his anger.

"Dumbledore is gone and now we can't trust that whoever the heir is won't come back and finish the job," she continued in a frightened voice.

She then closed the door without another word and Fred could hear the lock re-latch.

"With Dumbledore gone, people could actually start dying," George whispered from beside him.

Fred turned to survey his brother who had his anxious eyes downcast towards the floor. But as much as he wanted to console his brother, he knew he was right and Marnie may be in even worse danger than they had originally thought. His anger roiled to the surface.

Fred then spun around on his toes and stormed down the stairs. George followed him only saying something once Fred turned away from the Gryffindor common room.

"Where are we going?" he asked nervously, but it was redundant since he already knew the answer. "We don't actually know that it's him."

"Of course, we do! We have said it a million times since Marnie was attacked and now we have to do something!" Fred retorted storming towards the Slytherin common room.

The twins had figured out how to get into the Slytherin common room in their first year when they had put magical dye in Flint's shampoo bottle. And now Fred was going to kill him.

They were making their way through the dungeon corridor when they were met by their other friends who seemed to be coming back from the library. Angelina was leading the group and gave them an affronted look.

"What are you two doing down here?" she asked with her arms crossed over her chest.

She knew they had no intent on going to the library.

"You just thought you would storm the Slytherin common room?" she asked with her eyebrows shooting above her bangs. "We're not stupid," she continued while both twins refused to meet her eyes and remained quiet. "We know what you two think, that Flint is responsible. But you two hair-brained idiots confronting him on his turf surrounded by his entire house will only get you sent to the hospital wing or worse. You act like you are the only ones hurting which is absolutely ludicrous. We all love Marnie and are worried for her sake, so you need to smarten up or she will come after you when she wakes," Angelina finished her rant.

Fred couldn't help but smile at the idea of Marnie coming after him, because there was no doubt that she would.

"Dumbledore is gone," George said which brought Fred back to the present.

Alicia and Katie gasped while Lee and Angelina looked confused and worried.

"They won't let us see her anymore," Fred added.

Angelina nodded, but rounded her five friends to start quickly making their way towards the Gryffindor common room. The others no longer felt safe just standing in the corridor this close to curfew near the Slytherin common room.

The rest of the night was spent by the fire as they all sat mostly in silence. There was nothing to say as they all realized how dire the situation had become with the forced absence of their headmaster. The others all trickled off to bed as the hour got late but Fred and George couldn't find the will to even try and go to sleep. Luckily this meant that they were still awake when their younger brother and Harry stumbled into the common room looking as if they had survived the apocalypse.

"What happened to you guys?" George asked getting up in concern and walking towards the boys.

Fred noticed Harry and Ron give each other a look before coming over to sit with them. Harry looked as if he were struggling to decide what he wanted to divulge, but Ron jumped the gun. Ron dove right in and re-hashed their entire night as he explained what had happened with Hagrid and Dumbledore and how that had led them into the Forbidden Forest.

"A real acromantula!" George asked in awe.

"I can't believe you survived!" Fred added, recognizably proud of his younger brother for one of the few times in his life.

Ron and Harry looked exhausted and soon after their regalement, headed off to bed.

It was then that Fred and George decided to follow suit and headed upstairs to their own dormitory.

When they were laying down, Fred knew that George was still awake by the sound of his quieter breathing.

"Happy birthday Forge," he whispered.

"Happy birthday Gred."

XXX

 **I am definitely missing Marnie and am anxiously awaiting her return. It's way more fun to write with her as the lead.**

 **Thank-you for all of the interest in my story, it is truly amazing and appreciated!**


	31. Waking Up

I could hear a mixture of voices standing around me as I squinted against the bright light. I felt incredibly stiff and moved around in my bed trying to listen. However, when I started to move the voices abruptly stopped and I heard a few gasps.

"She's waking up!" I heard a cheerful voice that almost sounded like Mrs. Weasley.

What was I doing at The Burrow?

I tried to open my eyes for a second time, but it took a moment for my surroundings to come into focus. When it did I noticed there were several people standing around a bed I now knew wasn't mine, most of whom had red hair. Mrs. Weasley was in fact here holding my left hand and staring down at me with a teary, relieved expression.

"What is everyone doing here?" I asked finally realizing that I was in the hospital wing at school.

How had I ended up here?

A pair of bright yellow eyes flashed across my memory and I flinched at the thought.

The last thing I remembered was that I had been trying to close the window in the east corridor when I fell on some ice. Then, when I had gone to get up I remember my wrist hurting and then looking down into the icy reflection to see a pair of hideous eyes staring back.

"You were petrified darling," my dad spoke, whom I saw was standing on my right and holding my other hand.

His voice cracked and I noticed his weathered expression.

"I got attacked?" I asked incredulously.

I hadn't remembered being physically attacked, only looking into those eyes.

Harry then stepped from beside my dad with an exhausted look. Although he looked as if he had recently cleaned up, he still appeared as if he had gone through hell.

I gasped out loud at his appearance.

"What happened to you?" I asked in a worried tone.

Harry smiled back at me, although he held a pained look in his eye.

I saw him contemplating on how to answer me before I heard a loud sob erupt from beside Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm so sorry Marnie!" Ginny Weasley cried and catapulted herself onto my waist and buried her face into the sheets.

I was at a complete loss for words as to why the youngest Weasley was acting so distraught. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on in general.

"Why don't we give Marnie a moment alone with her family?" Mrs. Weasley suggested kindly while she pried her daughter from my body.

I could tell Ginny didn't want to leave and I felt bad for the girl who looked like she was riddled with guilt. I wanted to comfort her and reassure her that whatever she thought she did, I could never be angry with her.

But Mrs. Weasley led Ginny away closing the curtain behind her. Before they were closed I briefly caught the elated looks of Fred and George who smiled at me encouragingly. I couldn't help but smile back at their obvious relief.

I then turned my attention to my family. Remus, dad, and Harry were all still standing around me.

"What happened?" I asked pointedly.

They all sighed, and each gave me a sincere yet exhausted look.

Dad started.

"Well, first thing, it's June," he said empathetically.

"June!" I shouted with my eyebrows raising to the top of my head.

"Well that's how long it took for the mandrakes to mature," Remus added kindly.

I grumbled as I tried not to blame my problems on Herbology. Afterall, it was still my favourite subject.

"I wasn't fast enough to save you," Harry whispered from the foot of the bed.

I noticed Remus and dad turn their gaze with empathetic expressions.

"Harry, we've told you; this wasn't you fault," dad said but Harry keenly shook his head in stubborn admonishment.

"I heard the basilisk. If Hermione hadn't figured it out who knows what would have happened. Ginny might have…" he stopped short and I saw him swallow in fear.

"Wait, hold up. A basilisk was the one prowling the school and trying to kill off muggle-borns and squib-borns alike and somehow you have pinned the blame all on yourself?" I asked incredulously.

Harry couldn't meet my eyes.

"Tell me what happened and convince me that this is your fault," I replied challengingly.

Harry took another sharp breath before delving into his story.

I listened with baited breath the entire time as he regaled the last four months. Apparently, I had been one of the last ones to be petrified along with Hermione and the Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater. These attacks had also incited the consideration to close the school.

I cringed at this detail since I felt, that no matter how dire things had obviously been, it would be catastrophic if Hogwarts ever had to close its doors.

Harry pressed on to explain how Hagrid and Dumbledore were later forced to leave the school which only made things worse and caused the hospital wing to barre its doors against visitors.

I thought about what this meant for Harry and the twins who had been able to come and visit for three whole months. I didn't know what I would have done if I had been in their situation.

Harry then came to the end of the story where last night he had gone into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny who had been taken at the request of a young Voldemort who had somehow been living in the confines of the journal that supposedly Lucius Malfoy had given to her during his argument with Mr. Weasley at Flourish and Blotts in the summer. What a convoluted plot.

But, this obviously made sense as to why Ginny had been so distraught all year, she had had Voldemort as a pen pal.

I suddenly felt guilty that I hadn't taken the opportunity to further question Ginny about her feelings since it appears she had never disclosed anything to anyone all year. That was a lot for a first year to carry on her shoulders.

Then I realized why Ginny had looked so guilty, she felt responsible for me being petrified.

I frowned. I would definitely have to convince her not to feel any blame since I certainly didn't fault her for anything.

Harry had gone quiet at the end of his story and was looking at me with an anxious expression.

"I can't believe I was asleep for the apex of the year and missed all of the action!" I exclaimed loudly, startling Harry in the process.

Remus laughed.

"Of course, that's what you're upset about."

Dad still had an anxious expression, but I could see Harry's lightening.

"Maybe you could have if I had figured it out sooner," Harry started but I cut him off.

"Harry! Will you stop trying to place all of the blame on yourself. I'm alive and so is Ginny. You saved the day just like you always do. I am just proud of you," I said sincerely and watched the small smile form on his face.

"Yes, and honestly it might have been the safest thing that Marnie was petrified," dad added while I struggled to keep from rolling my eyes.

Harry noticed and stifled his laugh.

We sat together a while longer as dad and Remus caught me up on things at home and how worried they had been. Apparently, the school hadn't allowed visitors after I had been petrified due to the worsening circumstances.

Harry did end up opening the curtains after a while when he went to check on Hermione who was still recovering like me.

Immediately, I noticed Fred and George standing off to the side, staring in our direction.

I smiled at the both of them and beckoned them over.

Remus and dad, who had needed some motivation from Remus, went to go stretch their legs as they let Fred and George take their seats.

They both had big, dopey grins on their faces.

"So, I'm told it's been a while," I said as they got comfortable.

"Too damn long!" George exclaimed while I noticed his mother scowl at him from across the room.

"Well, I would say I missed you, but it feels like I just saw you at dinner," I said as I remembered where I had been going that night.

"Why were you in the Astronomy wing anyway?" George asked probably noticing the blush on my cheeks.

"Well, I was on my way to go meet up with Cedric," I said as innocently as I could.

I didn't mention the Valentine's note or anything. I made it seem like a harmless study meet up or something.

But instead I heard Fred scowl and turned to him in surprise. I met his eyes with a questioning gaze but he just rolled his eyes.

"Of course, you think you were going to go meet pretty boy," he said but this only increased my level of confusion.

"Well, yea. That was who I was planning to meet," I said calmly, not understanding his reaction.

He crossed his arms and slumped back into his chair. His gaze remained on mine and turned into a challenging stare.

"It wasn't him who sent you the Valentine," he said pointedly.

"How did you know I received a Valentine?" I asked, still baffled.

Then it clicked.

"It was from you," I whispered.

I could see George looking at his twin from the corner of his eye. I was under the surprised assumption that George hadn't even known.

But why in the name of Merlin would Fred have sent me that Valentine?

"It doesn't matter Hare," he sighed and came forward again. "I just wanted to spend some time with you and make a night of it."

I knew he was trying to make it seem like less than it had probably originally been. But I let it slide. Fred had never shown any interest in me other than being my best friend. Or at least I didn't think he had. Plus, we were best friends and one shouldn't be fraternizing with their best friend.

The three of them went quiet before Fred scowled again.

"Pretty boy has been waiting outside the hospital wing since this morning."

I gave him a surprised look.

"Cedric has been waiting for me to wake up?"

"Yea, he was also visiting nearly every day before the ban," George added while I only nodded.

I didn't want to give away how excited I felt. There were butterflies circling in my stomach.

As if on cue, my father and Remus returned with Cedric in tow.

"Guess who we found skulking by the door?" dad asked as I noticed Cedric start to blush.

Fred scowled again and got up to leave. I frowned after him as George followed. At least George turned around to give me an apologetic look before they both exited. I still didn't understand why Fred seemed to despise Cedric so much.

"Hey Marn," Cedric said interrupting my thoughts.

I turned my gaze towards him and met his with a smile.

I noticed dad and Remus go to talk with Mrs. Weasley, all the while turning their gaze towards us once in a while. It was pretty obvious the three of them were spying.

"How are you feeling?" he asked sweetly.

"Like I got the best sleep of my life," I replied which caused him to chuckle.

But his face turned serious after a moment.

"I was really worried about you Marn and the whole time I just felt like there were so many things I hadn't gotten the opportunity to say to you," he continued before stopping short and blushed again.

"What sort of things?" I pressed, feeling the butterflies reawaken in my stomach.

He inhaled deeply before smiling at me.

"Like apologizing for not sending you a Valentine's Day card. Or not being able to ask you on a date," he replied, with the redness in his face brightening.

I just gaped at him while he waited patiently for me to respond.

"You want to take me on a date?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course, I do," he answered simply, as if to insinuate anything else was absurd.

"Why?" I asked, still in shock.

He dipped his head slightly towards me.

"Well, I can't fully answer that with your dad and uncle staring at me. But I really like you Marnie. You're the most interesting girl I have ever met and evidently one of the few who doesn't swoon. Instead you make me work for your affections. You're smart and brave…" he lowered his head even closer. "And the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. It's almost like you're a fairy who glows angelic light and has her own wings."

I gaped again with my mouth open. Who says those kinds of things, especially to me?

"But what about Cho Chang?" I asked dumbly.

He scoffed.

"I profess my affections to you and that's your answer?" he sighed. "Cho doesn't hold a candle to you."

I could feel my face burn crimson.

"I like you too," I finally whispered back.

A smile beamed onto his face as he sat back and just stared warmly at me. I was glad since I felt like I needed a moment to collect myself. But, we were then interrupted by my dad and uncle. Remus had a bemused look on his face.

Cedric respectfully got up and offered his chair to my dad before he bid us farewell.

"I'll write you when I get back for the summer," he said and waved to give me one last warm look.

Then I watched him as he exited the hospital wing. When I turned back it was to see both Remus and dad staring at me with knowing looks.

"Well, I'm sure that was an amusing conversation," dad stated while I just rolled my eyes.

"You're going to be in for a long summer darling," Remus added which changed my look from embarrassment to confusion.

He shrugged in response and the matron came to check on me so I couldn't question him any further.

Fifteen minutes later I was finally discharged. Dad and Remus explained that they were to return home and would pick me up at King's Cross in two days. I walked them down to the front door and bid them farewell before turning back into the castle. I had to go find Ginny and make sure she didn't blame herself and reassure her that we were still friends. Plus, I'm sure she would want to hear all about Cedric Diggory asking me out on a date. I started up the staircase since I figured she would be hiding up in her dorm.

Why was Fred angry with her? And why did he hate Cedric so much when George seemed to be able to at least tolerate him.

There seemed to be a lot more to catch up on from the last four months than she would have thought. But they were all best friends, they could get through everything, including Voldemort traipsing through the castle two years in a row now. Hopefully next year they would all finally get a break.

XXX

 **So, I want to stipulate why I didn't write about Harry in the Chamber. The main reason is this story is about Marnie, and she was obviously petrified during this time until the mandrakes were harvested which happens after Harry goes in. And as I tried to get across with Marnie, she's upset she missed all the action. So, if she missed it, everyone misses it. Plus, to clarify, nothing new happens from canon in the Chamber and I didn't want to rehash the exact events that happen in the book.**

 **I hope this is clear enough, I just wanted to explain since I noticed some reviews asking about Marnie going into the Chamber. I am sorry but that was never the plan. This story has a focus on squib-born prejudice which I think really comes across with her being petrified.**

 **Plus, things are getting pretty real with the boys in her life as Marnie remains ignorant to the emotions around her. I am also extremely excited for the next school year as the Prisoner of Azkaban emerges.**


	32. God-Father

The first half of the summer was pretty boring, especially without Harry around. As per his unusual arrangement, he was to spend the first half of the summer with his wretched aunt and uncle before he would be able to stay with us. To make matters worse, Fred was acting like a complete git and had pretty much stopped talking to me which caused George to become the go-between as I tried to figure out why Fred was acting like such a prat. I could tell George was sympathetic, but annoyingly he kept mum about what was bothering his twin.

The only interesting thing was Cedric. We had been writing nearly every day to each other as he told me about his travels with his father. Unfortunately, we had had to postpone our date since his father, unbeknownst to Cedric, had planned a month-long excursion across Eastern Europe to explore possible chimaera sightings. However, this hadn't kept him from writing to me and regaling all their adventures; they still hadn't determined if a chimaera was in the region or not.

It was now a week before Harry was set to come stay with us and I felt the summer was at an all-time low. Ginny had written to me to say that their family won some money and were using it to go on holiday to visit Bill in Egypt. I could tell my father wanted to broach the subject since I had been brooding about Fred all month and my father knew I was upset they were leaving for a whole other country without even writing a good-bye. But we both remained silent on the matter.

It felt like the week before Harry's arrival was crawling at a snail's pace. I was no longer hearing from George or Ginny since they were probably too busy with their family and now even Harry was silent. We had been writing frequently but I knew his uncle's sister was in town and that meant trouble.

I sighed, watching the sun set from my window and decided it was time to start making dinner. It had become something I did every night since it offered something to do for an hour of the day that took my mind off my boredom. When I got down to the kitchen, I started taking out some pans and turned on the little antenna television that sat on our small peninsula countertop to listen to the news as I cooked.

"In breaking news, a mass murderer had broken out of prison and police are asking everyone to stay alert as they try to recapture the criminal. He was convicted of killing twelve innocent civilians nearly thirteen years ago and has been serving a life sentence ever since," the muggle reporter explained in an anxious sounding voice.

I was thankful that we didn't live in the city. It seemed like a dangerous place to be while no one ever came out to the rolling hills of the country if they felt a hankering for killing innocent bystanders.

I was waiting for the vegetables to simmer, allowing myself to finally look up at the television report. There was a red banner running across the screen which identified the man by description before they flashed his picture. The sauce jar I had been holding fell out of my hands and broke into hundreds of tiny shards on the ground. But my attention was still on the screen which showed the picture of the escaped criminal.

Sirius Black.

Dad and Remus ran from upstairs and stopped short when they saw all the glass I was surely standing in.

"Marnie! Are you alright?" dad asked as Remus pulled out his wand and tidied away the glass shards.

Angry tears were burning my eyes but all I could do was continue to stare at the screen.

"Are you hurt darling?" dad asked softly.

I could only shake my head.

Remus noticed my diverted attention and finally turned to look at the screen. He let out an immediate gasp and probably would have dropped something if he hadn't put his wand away. "How can that be?" he asked incredulously as we all now stared at the small screen.

Dad looked as if he were about to faint as I somehow found enough focus to pull a stool out for him to sit on. He almost fell onto it while keeping his focus glued onto the screen.

The man who was responsible for my mum's attack was now on the loose. Because of him Lily and James Potter were dead, and all our lives had been altered because of it.

Hate filled my gut as I glared at the picture they had in the corner of the screen. The picture shown was obviously one taken from Azkaban and showed him with a wildness in his eyes. He didn't deserve to be alive when Harry's parents weren't. I wanted him dead.

I didn't think the three of us got much sleep that night as we fretted over the current situation. It was known throughout wizarding Britain that Sirius Black betrayed his friends (and the Order) to Voldemort when he showed his true loyalties towards his family and fellow Death Eaters. Because of this the Potter's died but also led Harry to unwittingly defeat Voldemort. This meant that Sirius Black was presumably angry with the boy who was now much older than the infant he had been when Voldemort lost his powers. What if he came after Harry?

The next day was finally the day before Harry was set to arrive and surprisingly, Arthur Weasley came to join us for dinner. The three men apparently had business to discuss which seemed rather pressing, most likely to do with Sirius Black. My father had asked that I make dinner, I assumed to keep myself busy, while they sat and conversed in hushed tones in the sitting room.

When I announced that dinner was ready, the three men came and sat down at the set table. I dished out the lasagna as each one of them looked up at me appreciatively.

"This is wonderful Marnie!" Mr. Weasley beamed as I sat down, already with a spoonful in his mouth.

I smiled back and thanked him before the men returned to their apparent discussion.

"So, it's decided then. Remus will take up the position," Mr. Weasley said encouragingly and my dad nodded along.

It seemed my dad was the least on board with this idea based off his expression.

I risked my own question out of curiosity.

"What is uncle Remus going to do?" I asked as innocently as I could manage.

"He's going to teach you at your school this year!" Mr. Weasley explained excitedly.

I could see my uncle smile at the statement and I knew why. He had always loved Hogwarts and had since kept up with his academics. Typically, Remus would help dad out with his publishing and editing, while also doing some freelance work for one of the major paper's dad was assigned to under an assumed name. Plus, he also helped edit Mr. Lovegood's paper, the Quibbler. Teaching would be a brilliant thing for him to do.

I beamed at him as I figured out what this meant.

"Yes! That means you'll be replacing that dunce from last year," I said.

Dad scowled but Remus and Mr. Weasley chuckled. It was common knowledge how horrible Gilderoy Lockhart had been for a teacher.

"Well, Mr. Lockhart did end up suffering permanent brain damage Marnie," dad said quietly.

My face fell for a moment. I didn't want that idiot anywhere near my mum.

"Don't worry. The hospital will make sure your mother is safe," he reassured knowingly. I scowled at how readable my face apparently was.

"Well, I think it's brilliant that you'll be teaching us Defense, and so will Harry," I added encouragingly, changing the subject back.

I could tell that the three men shared a look at the mention of Harry which made me curious, but I knew my questions wouldn't get any more answers.

Mr. Weasley soon got up to leave after I had cleared the dishes and Remus helped me tidy up.

"Fred and George asked me to give you these," he said with a kind smile.

I took the letters greedily from Mr. Weasley's hands before I thanked him. He nodded his head knowingly before bidding us all goodnight and stepping out of the door.

I stared down at the letters with the familiar scrawls on them, both bearing my name. I rushed up to my room since Remus was already in his room and dad was sitting at the table going over his upcoming deadline to be ready before Harry arrived.

Once I had my door closed behind me I flopped down on my bed and looked over at Harry's empty one. We were all anxious to have Harry with us for his own protection and there still seemed to be lots of preparations for tomorrow.

But I shook my head before my anxiety completely took over and opened Fred's letter first.

Hare,

I know I have been avoiding you for most of the summer. I am still sort of mad, but I don't want to make that your problem anymore. I know about Sirius Black and I know what that means to you. I'm worried Hare, I need to make sure you're safe!

I tried to convince dad to let us come tonight but I think he's still disappointed in us for ignoring you.

I am sorry Hare. I hope you can forgive me.

Love,

Fred

I read the letter over three times as I felt my chest become lighter than it had been since the end of term. Fred had been upset that Cedric had visited me in the hospital when I was petrified and then stopped talking to me when he found out Cedric had asked me on a date. He heard from Ginny who practically yelled it across the common room when I told her, which had caused Fred to storm up the stairs. He hadn't talked to me much since then. He had even sat with Harry and the other second years while I sat with Ange and the others on the train ride home.

I sighed with relief and felt Fred seemed to finally be over this whole Cedric thing, whatever it was. I was still a little peeved that it came about with the escape of a dangerous Death Eater, but I decided to ignore that part.

I then opened George's.

Marnie,

I hope you are well and safe with the big, bad Sirius Black walking about. But seriously, be careful!

Also, Fred wouldn't let me read over his letter, so I hope it's nice. He's been a ruddy mess since the end of term and I know it's less than you deserve.

I miss you a lot Marnie and hope I will get to see you soon and tell you all about Egypt!

Stay safe until then!

George

I folded up the letters and held them to my chest. I felt the tears fall down my face as I thought about seeing the twins. I hadn't realized just how upset I had been that Fred was freezing me out, but they were my best friends. I felt less than whole without them around.

That night though I had another fitful sleep full of half strewn dreams. I know I had been crying a lot in them and I could remember closing myself off in a yellow-curtained bed instead of the red I am used to. I had also seen a pair of sad, gray eyes piercing into me which made my chest lurch.

When I woke up just as the sun was rising, I felt heart broken and I didn't know why.

I tried to shake off the feeling as I got up and started to collect my things to get ready. I was interrupted shortly after when I heard a knock at my bedroom door.

"Marnie are you up darling?" I heard my father ask.

I opened the door and could immediately tell something was wrong.

"What is it dad? Did something happen to Harry?" I asked fretfully.

My dad frowned.

"Well, yes…" he said as I gasped. "But he's safe! There was an incident last night with Harry performing some under-age magic, but the Minster for Magic stepped in himself and made sure Harry was safe."

I felt my stomach drop as I thought of Harry being expelled or arrested.

"He's fine Marnie," dad reassured, pulling me into a strong embrace. "The Minister is just as worried as we are about Harry's safety and hasn't even mentioned any repercussions for him. I think this is just going to be swept under the rug. Remus went to the Leaky Cauldron last night when we received the owl and is making sure Harry gets all sorted out. We are going to meet them as soon as you're ready."

Dad stepped back to let me go get ready. I rushed to the bathroom and was out five minutes later all set to go. I found my dad standing in the sitting room in front of the window as he watched the skies. I went to stand beside him and noticed our owl appearing closer with a letter tucked under his talons.

Dad opened the window once Caelum approached and let him come into the house to deliver the message.

Be there soon

I read the short script from beside my dad and wondered who could have written it. But before long there was a popping noise from outside and I looked up to see Mr. Weasley.

I almost ran outside as Mr. Weasley bent down to give me a hug. I could see his own worry etched into his face. Dad only nodded at Mr. Weasley before Mr. Weasley pulled my arm close and asked me if I was ready. I nodded while still staring at my father before feeling that familiar pull in my navel. Moments later I was standing outside the Leaky Cauldron in London. Mr. Weasley escorted me inside where moments later I heard my name being shouted. I whipped around to see Fred and George barreling down the stairs towards me.

Without even thinking I ran up to them and enveloped myself in their embrace as we stood in our group hug.

"I've missed you so much," I said as I breathed in their familiar scents.

Fred coughed nervously as he pulled me out of the embrace and looked me in the eyes.

"I know I've been a lousy friend. And it seemed the longer I ignored you the worse I felt. Then I would feel guilty…." He stopped when I put my hand to his mouth.

"Let's just forget it alright?" I asked hopefully.

He looked at me in surprise before nodding and bringing me back into a hug.

"Marnie?" I heard another familiar voice.

I looked up to see Harry walking down the stairs, followed closely by Remus. Instantly, I pulled out of Fred's embrace to run up towards my brother. But before I could speak someone called out behind me.

"Harry!" my father's voice rang out from behind us as I already held Harry in a fierce hug.

I didn't want to let him go.

Dad just took the opportunity to hug us both as we stood there for a few drawn out moments. I could feel the relief set into both my father's and Harry's shoulders as we held onto each other.

When we finally pulled away it looked as if we all had a tear in our eye.

"Mind if we have a family moment Arthur?" Remus asked as I saw Mr. Weasley nod and pull the twins away.

Fred and George looked at me nervously, but I nodded towards them reassuringly. I would be safe with my family.

Once the four of us were all seated at a corner table, away from all the other patrons, Harry immediately started to ask questions.

"Remus wouldn't say anything until you were all here, but I just can't understand why the Minister for Magic was so forgiving about me performing underage magic. I mean, I blew up my aunt!" he said while I looked at him in bafflement. Dad hadn't actually told me what he used magic for and this sounded more serious than I was expecting.

"Well, we will talk about the underage thing later," my father chided lightly. "But, have you seen the news Harry?"

"You mean Sirius Black?" he asked while we all nodded. "Yeah, I saw it. Plus, the Minister mentioned it last night. What does he have to do with me?"

My father and Remus both sighed.

"Harry, you know how Joss and I were very good friends with your parents throughout school and afterwards. The group of us would all typically spend our holidays at Joss' parents' place with him and his brother Penn," Remus started while Harry nodded.

"Yea, of course. You gave me that picture of all of you before your seventh year," Harry answered. I could tell he was growing impatient as Harry so frequently did. This time I couldn't blame him since dad and Remus were discussing him in relation to a serial murderer.

"Well, Sirius Black is in that picture. We were all very close with him," Remus finally said sadly.

"What?!" Harry sounded incredulous, this obviously not being what he expected.

"Of course, we didn't know what would happen and that he would actually join the Death Eaters. You should have seen him Harry, he was quite convincing of his hate towards them. After school he even started training to become and auror and…" Remus stopped short, as if it pained him to continue.

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" Harry asked sourly.

I could hear the anger he was trying to mask.

"Harry, we understand your resentment, but try to understand. He was our friend for years and then the next thing we knew he was in jail, for killing three of our friends. Plus, Lena… We never thought it would affect you like this. We never thought he would escape," dad said despairingly.

Harry remained quiet as I examined his reaction. I could tell his infamous temper was bubbling at the surface, but I also knew he was more upset about Sirius Black than with Remus or my dad.

Remus and dad sighed again.

"There's something else…" Remus paused.

Suddenly, I remembered one of my dreams and gasped out loud. Harry looked at me in surprise, but dad and Remus continued.

"Sirius Black… he's your god-father Harry."


	33. The News of Sirius Black

We hadn't seen Harry all day. He had disappeared off somewhere in the Leaky Cauldron with Hermione and Ron after taking the most recent news pretty badly. Actually, more accurately, he hadn't reacted at all. After Remus told him about his connection to Sirius Black, he had gotten up and left without a word.

"So, Harry's off taking the news like a champ?" George asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I don't get what the big deal is anyways," Fred said.

I looked at him dubiously.

"The first time Sirius Black was mentioned in association to my family we got into a huge fight," I replied distastefully.

I saw his cheeks turn pink as he bowed his head down.

"Oh, right," he replied sheepishly.

The Weasley's were spending the day buying their school supplies in Diagon Alley while we all waited for Harry to come out of hiding.

We weren't allowed to split up though since our families were all worried about Sirius Black coming after one of us, so I was sitting at a table with the twins while we waited for Mrs. Weasley and my dad to return. They had insisted on getting all the supplies while us kids waited safely at the inn.

"So, how are you handling things? I mean we know how it feels to have a git for a brother…" Fred said provokingly. "But we are worried about you."

I took a deep breath.

"Harry is just trying to swallow the news without showing us his anger. He'll come around when he's ready," I shrugged. "But, honestly, I feel exhausted. I haven't really slept much since I saw the news report and I'm worried Harry might be in trouble… again."

"Well, I mean he's already been up against You Know Who, twice! And that's only since his first year. Sirius Black can't be that big a problem for him," George said cheekily.

I gave him a half-hearted glare before sighing again. I didn't have the energy.

Instead Fred nervously cleared his throat and I looked over at him only to see him staring back at me.

"Would he come after you?" Fred asked in a worried tone.

I had been so focused on Harry, I hadn't stopped to think about me.

"What interest would he have in me?" I asked skeptically.

"Marnie, it's time to go home," I heard my father call from behind me, before anyone could answer.

I saw Harry sheepishly standing behind my father which I guess indicated that we were leaving before he disappeared again.

I stood up and hugged the twins good-bye before exiting the inn and being quickly herded into a Ministry provided car.

My eyebrows rose in surprise with the amount of attention our family was currently getting in lieu of Harry. They had never seemed at all interested with us before.

The car ride home was excruciatingly silent which lasted all the way until we walked through the doorway. Right away Harry went to make a run for it up to our room but Remus stopped him.

"Hold it," was all he said in a firm voice.

We both stopped in our tracks and turned to face him. He was pointing towards the couch to motion for us to sit down.

Dad and Remus joined us as we all sat in a continued, uncomfortable silence.

"Now, we have given you the day to digest this information and we understand that you may still be angry with us, but there are some rules that we expect you to adhere to," Remus said while Harry remained brooding.

"Now, unfortunately we are assuming that Sirius has escaped for some reason to come and seek you out Harry, and we need to make sure you are safe here," Remus pressed on.

"So, there is no sneaking out or leaving unattended for any reason," dad said sternly.

I could see they were trying to shake the anxiety from their voices. They were extremely apprehensive about Harry and his known recklessness.

I noticed Harry clenching his fists before exhaling loudly.

"I just can't believe he betrayed them," Harry said meekly, with a catch in his voice.

I realized Harry was trying to keep his emotions to himself instead of trying to contain any anger.

"He betrayed us all," Remus replied softly, emotion filling his voice.

We remained silent for a while before dad got up and started making dinner. I had since moved over to sit right next to Harry and held his hand. He squeezed it in return and was yet to let go. I had had a lifetime to somewhat come to terms with what Sirius Black had done to this family, Harry had only had a day.

Plus, now his life was in jeopardy again, for like the third year in a row, from the man who could have been his godfather. It was a lot for anyone to handle.

XXX

Dad was quiet the whole way to King's Cross as the four of us were escorted in a Ministry car, just like we had coming back from London.

Remus was going to board the train with us since he would also be living at Hogwarts for the year.

"Be safe," dad said as he brought me into a tight embrace.

We were beside the scarlet steam engine and dad was trying to hide the blatant worry in his eyes.

I couldn't help but feel worried for him in return, we were leaving him behind after all.

"I'll be fine Little Badger," he said knowingly as he patted me on the head. But he pulled me aside before allowing me to board the train. "Marnie, I have to warn you," my father started uneasily. "I know Remus and I have been very focused on Harry since hearing of Sirius' escape, but I don't want you to let your guard down."

"Dad, I'll make sure to watch over Harry," I said reassuringly.

"I know you will darling, but that's not what I'm getting at," dad continued. "Sirius may decide to come after you…"

"What?!" I exclaimed, not believing this was the answer my father was giving me to the initial question Fred had asked me back at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Well, your mother played a large part in foiling his scheme, plus they had a pretty complex history," my father explained nervously.

But before I could ask anything, the whistle blew from the train, cutting off any response I could give.

"Go find Fred and George, I'm sure they're waiting for you," dad said and sent me away without another pause.

I waved when I boarded the train and watched Harry and Remus say their own good-byes. I don't think it was any easier for them.

It didn't take long for me to find my group of friends. Just follow the sounds of boisterous laughter. Sure enough, everyone was looking excited when I entered the compartment and stowed my trunk.

"Is everyone ready for our fifth year?" Katie asked as I sat down between Fred and Lee.

"I don't know, can the boys survive the OWLs?" I responded smartly.

"Ha ha, very funny Hare," Lee said banally.

The train ride went about smoothly, it felt good to finally laugh after the boring and then stressful summer I had.

Part way through however, the train jolted to a stop.

"Who turned down the thermostat?" Lee asked, trying to sound joking but we could all hear the fear in his voice.

Moments later we also saw Draco Malfoy run down the hallway, a panicked look etched onto his face. I leaned over into Fred when I started to shiver. All of the panic and fear I had felt over the summer came racing to the surface.

Alicia gasped and cried aloud when we saw a horrible, black-cloaked creature gliding down the corridor. It turned to look into our compartment before deciding to open the door. I could hear someone whimpering from beside me but couldn't make out who it was. Instead I was transfixed on the creature who seemed to be staring into me. I felt as if all the hurt I had ever felt was being ripped right out of my skin. It was too much to bear.

I saw the faces of James and Lily followed by an image of their graves. I heard Remus howl from outside when he transformed and I was too young to understand that I wasn't going to be eaten alive. I heard my father crying late at night when he thought I had gone to sleep. I saw Marcus Flint approach me in a threatening manner as if he wanted to take my life. I saw all the dreams I had ever had, including a pair of sad, gray eyes crying in front of me. I saw my mother, standing in front of me with her blank stare.

"Lena, please," was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

xx

"Marnie!" I heard several people shout from above me, causing me to finally open my eyes in a confused haze.

"What happened?" I asked, taking Angelina's hand to stand up.

"You passed out," Katie explained, worry evident in her voice.

"Because of that thing?" I asked, a shudder going up my spine at the mere thought of the cloaked phantom I had seen.

"That was a dementor right?" Ange asked, the others nodded in response. I hazily remembered reading about those in one of Lockhart's textbooks last year and how they apparently were the guards to Azkaban. I did not however remember the ludicrous made up story that would have taken up 50 other pages I would have read about Lockhart being a hero.

Fred put his arm around me and I could feel the anxiety coursing through his body.

"It was horrible, wasn't it," Lee shuddered.

The others nodded. I put my head into my lap as I tried to collect my thoughts. My mind was reeling while my body felt incredibly exhausted.

I heard the compartment door open. "Everything alight in here? Marnie?" I heard Remus ask.

I lifted my head to see him passing pieces of chocolate to all my friends.

"Eat it Marnie, you'll feel better," he said kindly.

His expression evident with concern. I'm sure I looked about as good as I felt.

I took the bit of chocolate and hesitantly put it in my mouth. It had an instant effect, like it was defrosting my body from the dementor's curse. Remus gave me another meaningful look before excusing himself. I knew he would meet with me later to check-in but wanted to respect my privacy in front of my friends.

I gave him a small, reassuring smile before I watched him walk away. Then I leaned on Fred and managed to doze off for the rest of the ride to try and conserve the rest of my energy.

XXX

The remainder of the night continued on with the same air of anxiety, especially when Dumbledore explained the rules regarding the dementors; basically, stay far far away from them.

I hardly had anything to eat at the feast and went straight to bed once we had been escorted to the common room by the head boy, Percy Weasley.

I hoped the familiarity of my four-poster bed would allow me to get a good night's sleep. I sluggishly crawled under the covers in exhaustion and was asleep instantly. When I opened my eyes, I was walking towards the library with a large stack of books in my hands.

"I don't know Lena, maybe you should give it a chance," the girl beside me said who had an equally large stack of books piled in her arms.

"Sure Lily, and why don't you say yes to James Potter," I replied smartly while I watched the girl turn the same shade as her hair.

"He's just as persistent as James and he seems pretty sincere," Lily continued, ignoring the comment.

"Yes, well he was sincerely snogging Marlene McKinnon the other day when I climbed through the portrait hole," I replied irritably.

I could hear the anger in my voice but still couldn't understand who mum was talking about. It seemed as if they were talking about boys and dating.

"Need someone to carry those for you Red?" I peered over my own stack of books to see Harry had come up to Lily.

No… it was James and he had a smug grin on his face.

"I've got them, thanks," Lily replied tersely, tightening the grip she had around her books.

I realized I was stifling a laugh.

"Something funny Tress?" I heard an almost seductive sounding voice ask me from behind.

I turned around to see a shining pair of gray eyes reflecting back at me.

Wait, these were the same eyes I had seen when I faced the dementor.

But they weren't sad this time, they looked confident and full of life, with maybe a hint of antagonization.

"Hello Sirius," my mother said blandly, all interest devoid from her voice.

The gray eyes belonged to Sirius Black!

I felt my chest jolt as I blinked my eyes. I had surprised myself awake.

I had never dreamed of Sirius Black before in these weird memories I somehow got from my mother. At least, not advertently. And definitely not when they had been in school together.

What did this mean? And why did it seem like my mother had had some sort of connection with him? No one had ever mentioned anything about it to me before.


	34. Dating

"Marnie, wait up!" I heard a familiar voice call out from behind me.

I turned to see Cedric jogging to catch up with me as I made my way to Divination.

"Can I walk you to class?" he asked kindly.

"Of course," I answered, smiling back at him.

He fell into step with me while we walked towards the North Tower.

"We haven't gotten much of a chance to catch up since I returned from Eastern Europe, I was hoping to finally bring you on that date," he said thoughtfully, almost stopping me in my tracks.

I could feel my face turn hot at the mention of going on a date. Honestly, the escape of Sirius Black had put a screeching halt on most of my life, including corresponding with Cedric. But that maniac was already endangering my family's lives and plaguing my nightmares, he didn't have to affect my dating life too.

"That sounds lovely," I replied softly, trying to hide my anxiety.

But I was having difficulty meeting his eye.

He chuckled softly. "How about this upcoming Hogsmeade visit?"

"That sounds great," I said before feeling a grimace appear on my face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, I could hear the apprehension in his voice.

"Please promise me I won't have to go to Madam Puddifoot's?" I asked, trying not to outright offend him.

Cedric bluntly laughed this time.

"The day is yours. We will do whatever you want to do," he replied enthusiastically.

We had finally reached the top of the stairs.

"Wait, do you have Divination as well?" I asked, excited at the prospect of spending more time with him even though I still felt slightly embarrassed.

"As a matter of fact, I do," he answered. "But I would have escorted you either way."

I blushed fiercely as we entered the classroom and Cedric led the way to a table in the middle. He even stopped to pull out a chair for me. Most of the other students hadn't arrived yet and it wasn't until I noticed two red heads enter the room that I remembered whom I usually sat with.

George was the first to notice where I was sitting and offered me a small smile. Fred followed his brother's gaze and ended up trying to hide his obvious scowl but remained silent on the matter.

Baby steps I guess.

Professor Trelawney soon entered with her signature grandiosity. Wearing a shimmering shawl, she glided throughout the classroom like a bat. The rounded glasses which magnified the size of her eyes tenfold didn't help.

For the past two years I had usually sat with the twins, Katie and Lee who had all decided to take this class as an elective. It was also our pastime to laugh and make jokes about the eccentric professor who tended to constantly declare the death and suffering of others.

Fred and George had explained that their brother Bill had taken the course during his time at Hogwarts and had always gone on about how easy it was. This had been the winning factor against Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. For my other electives I had also chosen Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures; I still had no idea what I wanted to do once I graduated.

"Today we are going to gaze into the future with our crystal orbs," Professor Trelawney announced in dramatic gesture.

I looked at the glass ball which was sitting in between Cedric and I with skepticism. What could this decoration really tell me about my future? Cedric instead looked thoughtfully into it before glancing back down to reference from his book.

"You should start," I suggested since it seemed Cedric was already giving this more effort than I was.

"Alright, well already I am seeing two colours swirling around, almost as if they are competing with each other," he stated observantly.

I furrowed my brow as I looked quizzically down at the crystal ball. Already Cedric was taking this more seriously than I ever had.

"What are the colours?" I asked, still feeling skeptical.

"Red and yellow. But it almost looks like they are fusing in the middle to create a vibrant orange colour," he continued thoughtfully.

"Well, what is that supposed to mean?"

"It says here that the presence of two colours means either competing interests or the presence of two souls," he recited.

"What else?" I asked, my interest now regrettably peeked.

"Red is supposed to symbolize love or passion or inversely betrayal and rejection while yellow symbolizes friendship and loyalty or ending and passing on," he said ambiguously.

"Well, isn't that just covering all of the bases?" I asked incredulously. "So, either, I'm one person or two, in love or being betrayed, while being loyal or dying? That is completely bogus," I grumbled and crossed my arms over my chest.

Cedric smiled softly before returning to his text.

"It also says that the emergence of orange means that the circumstances of the red and yellow will give birth to a new direction in your life, determinate on the decisions made from the soul-bearer. Either, one will choose to whither out of existence or strive for betterment and prosperity," he finished bluntly.

"Well isn't that cheerful," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"Why don't you try," Cedric offered kindly, passing over his text.

I gazed down at the glass ball and was surprised to actually see a colour emerging out of its cloudy-like haze

"Your aura shows purple," I started before referring down to the table shown in the book.

"Purple means you are excited to start a new journey based on recent decisions you have made."

I looked up to see him break into an infectious smile.

"The lightness of the purple shows infinite youth, whatever that means, and this line of pink-ish red is supposed to represent a strong bond binding to your soul," I continued, not really understanding the elusiveness of the script.

I looked up at Cedric who just beamed back at me.

"What?" I asked skeptically, unsure of how he could have understood a single word of what I had said.

"I'm just glad I met you Marnie O'Hara," was all he replied before he sat back and just stared at me with a smile.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and couldn't think of anything else to say in response.

After class, Cedric escorted me down to the Great Hall before we could part ways to our separate tables. We were standing, facing each other for several minutes and I could start to feel the stares of several students turn towards us. Cedric had been holding my hand and eventually brought it up to his lips before he softly brushed them over the top of my hand. I felt shivers of excitement cascade down my spine and couldn't help the large grin from spreading across my face before he bid me good-bye.

I turned around and walked towards my friends who were all staring at me with wide eyes and goofy grins, all except for Fred. But, fortunately, he kept his opinions to himself all throughout the meal while the girls bombarded me with silly questions.

What did he smell like? Were his eyes actually the colour of honey? Was he taking me to Hogsmeade? But, as exhausting as their questions were, I couldn't help but feel excited. I had never had a crush on a boy before and out of everyone at this school, the resident dream boy had chosen me to go on a date with him. We weren't official by any means, but the attention Cedric showed me almost seemed intimate. I couldn't help but enjoy it.

We were later interrupted when Harry and his friends came and joined us for dinner. I could instantly see the sour look on Harry's face as he sat down.

"That Divination professor is out to get me," Harry sulked, tipping me off to be alarmed.

"Is this Snape level or Quirrell level of out to get you?" I asked skeptically.

Ron tried to stifle his laugh while Hermione gave him a pointed look.

"No, not like that. She just won't stop telling me I'm going to die," Harry explained exasperatedly.

"Well, you are prone to chaos…" I muttered, thinking of all the events which had taken place in the last three years.

Harry sighed again but was interrupted by Hermione.

"Well, she is a phony. Plus, Divination isn't a science and has no evidence of actually working," I was surprised that Hermione had the capability of talking ill of a class or professor.

"Well, it beats having to take Ancient Runes," Ron retorted, causing Hermione to roll her eyes.

"If it helps Harry, she seems to think I have two souls, or a split soul or something," I added, trying to reassure Harry that he wasn't the only target for her exaggerated theories.

Ron laughed while I even saw Hermione crack a sarcastic smile. Obviously, Professor Trelawney wasn't the most favourited teacher in the school.

"Plus, it looks like I won't be going to Hogsmeade this weekend," Harry added.

"Why not?" I asked incredulously.

I knew my dad had signed the form.

"Professor McGonagall is saying that Joss isn't technically my guardian and it would have to be signed by either my aunt or uncle," Harry explained dejectedly.

"But you have a bed at my house, you're my brother!" I said, feeling my frustration roil to the surface.

"I know that Marnie," Harry said more softly.

I frowned at him before sighing and trying to swallow my emotions. Obviously, Harry was already seeing the unfairness of it all and my anger wasn't helping.

So, for the rest of the night I avoided talking about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend since Harry was obviously annoyed and the twins didn't like the reminder that I wouldn't be spending it with them. Fred had been subtler with his disapproval of Cedric, but it was still quite obvious he had an issue with it.

In lieu of this, the girls eventually decided to spend the evening up in the dormitory to be able to talk about the trip.

"So, Katie, has Lee asked you yet?" Angelina asked provokingly, making Katie's face turn beet red.

"Yea," she answered softly, barely able to meet any of our eyes.

In response, Alicia started to incessantly giggle.

"He's been following you around like a puppy since last year, it's a wonder he hasn't asked you to be his girlfriend yet," Alicia stated boldly.

I could see Katie was fiddling with the ends of her sweater, but a smile was also evident on her face through all the red.

"He really likes you Kate, I'm sure you'll have a good time," I said, trying to sound reassuring to her obvious nerves.

Unfortunately, I watched as Alicia's devilish grin turned onto me.

"And I'm sure you will have an exciting time with one Mr. Diggory," Alicia gushed.

The girls had been on about my date with Cedric since last June when he had first asked me. It was now September and they were beyond intolerable by this point.

I shook my head, trying to fight the blush forming across my face. To give my myself a moment to think, I turned my head to look at Aster who was sitting contentedly in their cage by the window. It had almost been a year and I found I now had a very loyal companion. Dad had been weary when I had brought Aster home, but even after being let out in the garden, Aster still found their way in through my window at night. After that, dad had conceded on the matter and Aster was allowed to stay in mine and Harry's bedroom.

"Cho Chang stares bullets at you though when she sees you in the halls," Katie added, obviously happy the focus had been taken off of her and Lee.

"Yea, I have noticed she doesn't take kindly to me," I said, a little perplexed with the Ravenclaw seeker's opinion of me.

I hadn't even talked to her before, but it was no secret that she had been crushing on Cedric since the middle of last year.

Cedric himself didn't really seem phased by it though since Cho was not the only girl who blatantly ogled him when he walked by, and I was used to people judging me based on their own prejudices. So, Cho didn't really worry me.

We stayed up later that evening than usual, enjoying a rare night away from the boys. We could talk more freely, which ended up meaning we talked mostly about them. The giggling didn't stop until after midnight once we finally turned out the lights.

The next morning, I was held up by the girls who deemed it necessary to dress me and fix me up. Alicia rifled through my trunk while Angelina applied my make-up. I felt absolutely ridiculous. However, when they were finished, I was surprised with how much I liked the result. The bronze-like colouring over my eyes seemed to make the shimmering orange pop from my irises while the soft pink on my lips softened the look.

Katie chose my only pair of dark-washed skinny jeans, which I had buried in the bottom of my trunk, and topped it with a tight-fit orange turtleneck. I knew Alicia had wanted me to show more skin, but it was cold out and I wasn't dressing down just for a boy.

I also vetoed their first idea of a dress, especially since I would have had to borrow one of theirs.

By now it was almost eleven o'clock and we were filing out of the dormitory to make our way towards the entrance hall. I passed Hermione and Ron who I could tell were trying to stifle their excitement as they stood beside a dejected looking Harry.

I went over to him and just gave him a hug while we stood together in silence. I knew he didn't want to talk about the issue anymore, but I could still see his evident disappointment. I also knew Harry was not used to physical affection and struggled to seek it out when he was feeling upset.

Harry tightened the embrace in response as I stood with him. By the time we separated, I could feel at least some of the tension had left his shoulders. We bid him one last good-bye with the promise of bringing him back some sweets before leaving the castle.

"I don't know how you do that," Hermione said a little perplexed.

"Do what?" I asked unknowingly.

"Make Harry let out his emotions. Ron and I have been trying all week to get him to relax and you do it with one hug," she continued, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. Harry was pretty simple to read, you just had to respect his space first and know how to fill in the blanks. He wasn't one to share his feelings, but his face read like an open book and he usually just wanted someone to share the burden, even if he did so unwillingly. Shouldering everything was definitely his fatal flaw.

We soon left Hermione and Ron behind as my friends and I approached the village. Since we had left later, the boys had already headed down and had agreed to meet the girls at Zonko's. I knew that the plan was for Lee and Katie to branch off from the group while Alicia and Ange hung out with the twins. I was to meet Cedric in front of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.

I quickly waved off my friends as they each gave me one last smirk before heading towards the joke shop. I headed in the opposite direction and immediately saw Cedric standing outside our agreed meeting spot. He hadn't noticed me yet and I took the moment to collect myself. It was stupid that my heart was beating rapidly and I had to remind myself to slow my breathing. Cedric and I had been hanging out together for over a year now and I counted him to be one of my friends. But seeing him standing there in some faded jeans and a tight-fitting white long-sleeve made me see him in a different light.

I quickened my pace as I came into view and he waved me over.

"Wow, you look brilliant," he said as I felt my blush deepen.

I took a moment to try and steady my breathing.

"You look pretty good yourself," I answered, hoping I didn't sound too awkward.

But he smiled and offered his arm to loop through mine.

"Where to first Marnie?" he asked politely.

"Well, I did promise Harry to get him some sweets," I answered, wanting to make sure I bought them before I forgot.

My brain was acting pretty strangely being around Cedric and I wanted to make sure I kept my promise.

"Alright, Honeydukes it is," he agreed heartedly before he lightly led me over in the right direction.

The warmth of his arm through mine was almost exhilarating since I had never actually been on a date with anyone before. Cedric was so gentleman-like but also brought butterflies to my stomach.

While we were looking around Honeydukes I decided on some fudgeflies and more chocolate frogs for Harry, not wanting to spend the entirety of our date being indecisive.

Fifteen minutes later I paid for my purchases and walked out with Cedric.

"For you," he said softly before pulling out a candied rose from behind his back.

"You shouldn't have!" I said, chastising myself for not getting him anything.

He was always getting me things while I still hadn't gotten him anything in return. I would really need to clue into this dating thing.

"Don't worry about it Marnie, I was already planning on getting you this," he answered as my heart sank further; he had already had a plan.

He took the candied rose out of my hand and unwrapped it before handing it back.

"Taste it," he said, excitement coursing through his voice.

The moment my tongue touched the candy I noticed it slowly start to move. In utter surprise I moved my face back and watched in wonder as the candy blossomed before my eyes.

"Do you like it?" he asked, watching my awed reaction.

"This is amazing magic!" I exclaimed, fascinated with the candy.

"I'm glad you like it," he said before looping my arm again.

We walked around town for a while as I ate my candy and realized how content I was just being by his side. Despite my earlier nervousness, I felt completely at ease with Cedric and was enjoying just being with him.

After a while we decided to stop in to The Three Broom Sticks to enjoy a couple of butterbeers to finish off the day. Cedric had insisted on ordering my drink, despite the many attempts I made to try and pay for his.

Expertly, he dodged my efforts and returned minutes later with our drinks to the small booth I had secured in the corner. As we sat together sipping our drinks I started to notice how nervous Cedric seemed and made no effort to fill the heavy silence. Our once easy nature had turned almost tense as I could see Cedric mulling something over in his head. I started to feel apprehensive as I painstakingly went over every detail of the day in my head and wondered what I had done wrong. But before I could drive myself completely insane Cedric broke the silence.

"Erm, Marnie…" he started, already losing his nerve.

"Yes, Cedric," I said apprehensively, trying to make sure he didn't back out of whatever it was he wanted to say.

At least awkward conversation was better than pained silence.

"There's… there's something I wanted to ask you," he continued nervously.

I could tell he was fighting with himself to maintain eye contact.

I looked at him expectantly while he worked up his nerve.

"Well, Marnie, I was wondering if you wanted…" but he was cut off abruptly by Fred coming up to us.

I wanted to scream bloody murder before I looked at the anxious expression on Fred's face.

"Hare, George isn't feeling well and had to go to the hospital wing," he said in obvious distress.

I temporarily forgot about what Cedric had been trying to say and looked worriedly up at Fred. I then took a quick survey of the room and realized George was nowhere in sight. I turned back to Cedric who also looked worried and nodded understandingly towards me.

"You need to go Marnie," he said softly. "I understand, I'll talk to you later."

His expression was so understanding and patient I could have cried. But despite my appreciation and curiosity towards him, my worry for George superseded it.

So, I quickly exited the pub after giving Cedric a quick good-bye hug and jogging all the way up to the castle behind Fred. When we arrived, I went to make my way towards the hospital wing when we were intersected by our friends exiting the Great Hall.

"Oo Marnie, how was your date?" Alicia asked excitedly.

Angelina gave me a quizzical look, but I ignored them all as I stared at a very healthy-looking George standing beside Lee.

I turned to Fred, anger bubbling to the surface.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I shouted at Fred angrily.

My friends' faces all fell as they looked at me with shock. I had never had an outburst in the five years I had known them, least of all with Fred. But before Fred or I could continue George cut me off with a sad expression.

"Fred, you didn't," was all he said as he stared sorrowfully at his twin.

Fred was nervously laughing now as he looked between all my friends and then back to me. I could feel angry tears starting to breach the surface.

"You planned this?" I asked incredulously. "You used your own brother as an excuse to interrupt my date! I thought we were passed all of this. I thought you had let it go and you could just be happy for me. He was going to tell me something and now I will never know since you are the world's biggest git and you can't swallow your own ego and just let your best friend be happy!" I shouted, before realizing I had probably said too much.

I then spun around and ran up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Tower.

My first date with my first crush had gone exceedingly well until my best friend in the entire world had gone and ruined it. I couldn't believe how angry I felt as I seethed while going over the events of the day in my head. I had no idea what Cedric was going to say now but what if he thought I had organized a cop out with Fred to get me out of the date. What if he wanted to date someone else after this? What if everything was ruined? In that moment I realized how much I actually cared for Cedric and how betrayed I felt by Fred.

The tears wouldn't stop coming as I buried my face in my pillow and sobbed until I had no more energy. Eventually I must have drifted off to sleep because I was woken hours later by the hushed whispers of my friends.

It seemed to be dark outside now which it hadn't been when I had come up.

"I can't believe Fred did that to her," I could hear Angelina say sadly.

My eyes were still heavy from all the crying I had done earlier and I could feel myself start to drift off again.

"Yea, Fred doesn't have a good enough excuse," Katie said with a defensive edge in her voice.

"Do you think she knows?" I could barely hear Alicia whisper.

 _Know what?_

 **So Cedric and Marnie finally had their date.**

 **I am trying to not make Fred a complete jerk here, believe me, I am 100% pro Fred Weasley. But his character seemingly struggles with dealing with his emotions and I am afraid he will continue with that struggle for a while.**

 **The plan I made for Marnie's fifth year is probably my favourite so hopefully people will stay with me! Prisoner of Azkaban due for his arrival!**


	35. New Beginings

I didn't talk to Fred for two weeks after the Hogsmeade trip. I could feel the tension amongst our friends since Fred was noticeably absent while I refused to make amends. I knew Fred regretted what he had done, George had told me as much, but I couldn't get over my anger. Cedric also hadn't talked to me much since our date, and I was beyond nervous about it. Aside from idle chatter whenever we bumped into each other, he hadn't brought up our date at all.

Angelina and I were walking alone, headed towards the library when I noticed someone coming towards us in a pointed manner. I looked up to see a very smug looking Cho Chang approaching with her friend Marietta in tow. I sighed audibly.

"Marietta wasn't I just saying how I was on my way to go ask out Cedric Diggory?" Cho said goadingly, stopping in front of Angelina and I with a smug expression.

I almost felt too exhausted to try and argue the point, but I didn't want Cho to think she could start walking all over me now. But before I could act Angelina came to my aid.

"Sod off Cho, Cedric would be a fool to go out with someone as tactless as you," Angelina retorted fiercely.

I could see the anger instantly cross over Cho's face with Marietta looking quite haughty herself.

"Well, Cedric smartened up enough to avoid an orange-eyed freak like her," Cho shot back maliciously.

I saw Angelina look like she was ready to pounce before we were thankfully interrupted. My hands still securely holding onto Angelina's arm bracingly to try and hold her back.

"Oi, it would be best if we kept this to the quidditch pitch don't you think Chang?" I heard Fred say as he came over to stand in between us and Cho.

This was the first time I had heard his voice in two weeks, and despite still being angry with him, I knew I missed him. It was more than nice to see and hear him again.

Cho and Marietta decidedly stormed off after Fred's intervention. Watching them leave, I was noticeably aware that Fred was awkwardly standing in front of me.

"I better leave you to it," Angelina said hurriedly before she too practically sprinted away.

I would have to be angry with her later.

"Well, thanks, I guess," I said awkwardly before Fred shrugged and put his hands in his pockets.

"Are you talking to me now?" I asked, not knowing where this left us or even what was really going on anymore.

He shrugged again which tipped my short capacity for patience. I huffed before spinning around and heading to storm off after Angelina.

But his whisper stopped me in my tracks since it sounded almost like a whimpering sound. "Hare."

I allowed myself to take a deep breath before turning around.

"Yes Fred," I replied shortly.

"I'm sorry," he said before dropping his gaze again to the floor.

I stood there in consideration for a moment while I decided whether I wanted to forgive him yet. As far as I knew, whatever I had had with Cedric was over because of Fred, but on the other hand I missed my best friend.

I grumbled and expelled another audible sigh.

"I forgive you," I said quietly.

Fred couldn't believe his ears and almost thought he had misheard since she had spoken so softly. He also felt he didn't deserve her forgiveness, especially since all of his friends, including George and even Harry, had reamed him out for being a git. But he looked back up at her again and saw her small smile towards him. He didn't need any more time to consider her response before he was crossing the distance between them and bringing her into a tight embrace.

"I've missed you," she said as she almost fell into him.

Fred could tell how exhausted Marnie was since he felt he was almost holding her up. He then guiltily contemplated whether or not Marnie had been sleeping very well these past few weeks.

"Want to head down for dinner?" he asked, wanting to make sure Marnie was at last eating.

Despite her exhaustion she nodded and let Fred lead her down to the Great Hall. She noticed the automatic relief across her friends' faces when they noticed her and Fred's arrival together and despite it all she couldn't really help but smile back.

"Thank Merlin," George said as Fred came over to sit beside him.

I took the vacant seat beside Ange who just leaned supportively into me. I returned the gesture by resting my head onto hers. I decided I couldn't be angry with her for leaving me alone with Fred since it had led to our reconciliation and truth be told I really was exhausted. But the meal was livelier than it had been since Hogsmeade and I reveled in the normalcy of it all. The effortlessness of our group returned as if nothing had happened. But a dull ache remained in my chest as I thought of what I had potentially lost with Cedric.

"Erm, Marnie," I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

I turned to see a nervous looking Cedric standing behind me. I tried not to gape in surprise.

"Might I have a word?" he asked before I could even respond to his presence.

I simply nodded, and my friends somehow remained silent despite all of their blunt personalities while I stood up and went to join him in the entrance hall.

"I think I owe you an apology for my misunderstanding," he started as we took a seat on one of the benches in the nearly empty hallway.

Mostly everyone was inside the Great Hall eating supper by this point, so we remained undisturbed. I could only manage to look at him in confusion.

"Let me explain," he paused and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "I just heard about Cho and I feel terribly that you had to endure that tasteless confrontation," he scowled at the thought and I couldn't help but smile. "I needed to let you know that the reason I have been keeping my distance is because I thought you wanted it. After learning about Fred's lie, I didn't know if you had planned it or if you were even using it to think about what you wanted. But I started to notice that you weren't speaking to Fred and that also made me nervous about things since I didn't want to come in between the two of you…" I tried to process all of the information.

"What were you trying to tell me in The Three Broomstick?" I asked, instantly needing to know the answer in the midst of all this confusion.

He cleared his throat nervously before summoning a bout of confidence. I could see his shoulders straighten up and his gaze turn to look me in the eyes.

"Marnie, I wanted… I still want… to ask you if you would be my girlfriend?" he stuttered while still trying to keep his cool.

He smoothed his hand through his hair again before crossing both hands onto his lap. I could tell he was extremely nervous.

I was left speechless. My brain went into hyperdrive which ironically left my mind blank on what to say. I could see Cedric watching me with increasing apprehension before I summoned my will to answer.

"Yes," was all I could muster for my reply.

I saw the moment of surprise cross his eyes before he broke out into the biggest smile I had ever seen.

"Brilliant," he said, still sounding as nervous as I felt.

I could see his eyes were almost twinkling now before I noticed him inching closer. Before I could react, he bent down towards my face and gently placed his lips on my cheek.

"I'll see you tomorrow then Marnie?" he asked gently, drawing his face back to look at me.

"Of course. I'll meet you outside the Great Hall to walk to class?" I asked, knowing we had Defense Against The Dark Arts together.

"I'll see you then," he replied before heading back into the Great Hall to finish dinner.

I knew my friends would be eagerly awaiting my return, but I wanted to figure out my own reaction first before they made a spectacle out of it. I knew they meant well and were really excited for me, but I still wanted to savour this moment of pure bliss for a little while longer.

Figuring I could head down and visit Posy later on, I started towards the Defense hallway to go and visit Remus. I had already noticed he hadn't been present at dinner.

"Come in," I heard his voice beckon after knocking on his office door.

I had already visited the office a few times in the last month, usually with Harry when we would meet with him on our days off.

"Marnie, this is a nice surprise," he said as he gestured for me to sit on the chair beside his small fireplace.

He sat across from me and was already offering me a chocolate frog from a small trinket box.

"To what do I owe this social call?" he asked kindly, with a hint of exaggeration in his voice.

Remus and I had a very close bond, especially since he had practically been raising me since I was three years old. Even before then, he was a big part of my life since I don't have any early memories without him in it. So, by this point, it felt like he could read me like a book without me actually having to say much. So, I assumed he could sense my current mood of excitement and apprehension as I took the chocolate frog and started to unwrap it.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Mr. Diggory now would it?" he asked slyly.

I was almost surprised that he had guessed it right away, but Remus had known about my friendship with Cedric over the past year and quite possibly knew about my crush. My face turning red was answer enough which caused him to lightly chuckle.

"Well, it seems you have surpassed everyone from my time in Hogwarts to find a proper date," he continued.

"Sorry?" I asked, confused by his remark.

"Well, James stalked Lily around for about five years before she finally agreed to go out with him, Peter and I were never very good at finding dates, and even your father took his time in asking your mother out," he explained with an amused look on his face. "But on a more serious note, I hope you know I will be keeping a watchful eye on this young man to make sure he is acceptable enough for you," he added wryly.

I was only half sure he was joking. I then spent the remainder of the evening with Remus before he dismissed me right before curfew.

"I expect you will find tomorrow's lesson most exciting," he said as he escorted me back to Gryffindor Tower.

"What is it?" I asked impatiently, wanting Remus to tell me what to expect.

"What fun is it if I ruin the surprise?" he returned my question with an amused look.

I sighed before realizing we had already made it back to the Fat Lady's Portrait.

"Have a good night Marnie," he said before he turned to leave.

I bid him good night before stepping through the portrait and immediately came face to face with Alicia and Katie.

"So?" they both asked excitedly.

"What?" I asked in return, feigning ignorance.

"Oh please, you know what we're asking," Katie responded impatiently before I sighed.

I noticed all of my friends were still up and eagerly awaiting my return.

I was escorted by Katie and Alicia who practically threw me down on the couch beside Angelina before they returned to sit across from us. Lee was sitting on Katie's other side while Fred and George sat on the floor in front of the fire.

"So, what did Cedric want to talk to you about?" Alicia asked more forwardly.

"Oh, just something about being his girlfriend," I answered nonchalantly as I tried to play it up for them.

Alicia and Katie both squealed loudly enough to make Lee jump in his seat. Angelina excitedly grabbed onto my arm as I tried to remain as collected as possible. I didn't want to give anything away.

"What did you say?" Alicia asked as she leaned over even closer towards me.

I gave a long pause as I tried to savour the moment of keeping them in suspense. I also took the moment to look over at George and Fred. George had a genuine smile which felt encouraging that he was actually happy for me. It had been strained between us lately since he felt the need to stay by both of our sides, which ended up dividing his time. I already knew he thought Fred had crossed the line and didn't actually have an issue with Cedric aside from being a quidditch rival. But he also hadn't explained to me why Fred was being such a prat, despite the many times I had asked him. I knew it must have been difficult for George to be the middleman in between Fred and I and I only hoped we wouldn't have to go back to that.

I then turned my attention to Fred who surprisingly had a smile on his face. I could see the pain in his eyes, but I knew he was actually happy for me, or at least the most he could be. I realized then that I had been holding my breath when I forcibly exhaled in relief.

I was brought back to face the others when Angelina, through her excitement, started to crush my arm under her fingers. Alicia and Katie looked as if they were about to burst while I noticed Lee leaning away from them so to avoid being startled by another outburst.

"I said yes, obviously," I answered simply which caused another round of squeals from the girls and for Lee to lean even further away.

The rest of the night was spent excitedly chatting by the fire. Fred had even commented he was happy enough if it meant Cho Chang would leave me alone. I couldn't help smiling at my friends' excitement for me and inwardly thanked whatever fate had brought me to them. As cheesy as it was, I wanted to make sure I never took my friends for granted and felt fortunate to have stopped at that particular train compartment five years ago.

By the time we got to bed I was overly exhausted. The girls had also tired themselves out which meant we were all pretty quiet as we got ready for bed. Once we had turned out the lights, I watched Aster sitting on their perch as my eyes became heavier with exhaustion. I noticed it was almost like they were glowing brighter tonight than they ever had before. But before I could ponder those implications anymore, I succumbed to my tiredness.

"Lena," I heard a familiar voice call from behind me.

I turned around to see a skinny boy with flat, brown hair and a pale complexion.

It was Remus.

"Hey Moony, what's up?" I asked, unfamiliar with the given nickname.

"Well, actually, I wanted to talk to you about Padfoot," Remus explained while I felt a jolt from within my chest.

But my mother sighed, obviously frustrated.

"If Padfoot wants to talk to me that's his prerogative, he shouldn't send you as his owl," I replied in an annoyed tone.

"You know he has already tried," Remus answered more delicately.

"Well, then he shouldn't be such an insufferable toe rag!" I fumed.

Remus chuckled which caused my frustration to surge.

"Taking a page out of Lily's dictionary," he mused.

What are they talking about?

Regrettably, I knew, I felt myself start to smile. My mother was obviously trying to bury the rising excitement I could feel from inside her chest.

"He cares for you Lena," Remus started again, still in his delicate tone.

"I know," I muttered back, butterflies now entering my stomach.

The scene ended as the volume of my dream seemed to go mute and I watched my mother and Remus walk away, leaving me behind. Soon after I had been left in the darkness, I woke up.


	36. Boggarts

Cedric met me outside of the Great Hall just as he had promised the previous night. My stomach erupted into a swarm of butterflies after just seeing him standing there. Part of me almost thought it had just been a dream. But Cedric waved me over once he saw me and I couldn't help but jog over to meet him.

"How was your evening?" he asked politely.

I turned pink at the thought of my friends gushing over him.

In response I heard him chuckling lightly.

"Don't worry, my friends gave me a hard time as well," he said knowingly, saving me from any embarrassment of having to repeat anything my friends had said.

We talked easily with one another on our way to Defense, but my heart almost skipped a beat when he took my hand. He was still holding it when we entered the classroom and I saw a smile cross Remus' face when he noticed.

"Good morning class," Remus greeted everyone once the class was seated.

He got a round of sleepy responses.

"I had noticed that your Defense Against The Dark Arts teachings have been somewhat lacking and was hoping to remedy that with some exposure to some dark creatures," he explained.

I saw many of the students peak with interest. No one was leaning on their desk anymore.

Remus started to gesture towards the looming trunk which I hadn't noticed was sitting in the front of the room.

"Today I want to show you all what a boggart is and how to deal with them. Especially since they can be found in one's home," Remus continued.

The excitement was almost palpable in the class. I had already learned about boggarts surprisingly last year since they had appeared in one of Gilderoy Lockhart's books; he had supposedly seen a boggart's true form since he wasn't afraid of anything. What a git.

I stared at the trunk apprehensively as Remus continued on with his lecture. I already knew boggarts took the form of whatever one feared most, and I realized I had never considered that about myself before. I pondered the notion, still staring at the looming trunk.

I definitely had a large dislike for snakes, especially after learning of the immensely large basilisk that had almost killed me. I also took a particular dislike to trolls, but that was just common sense. And then I thought of the dementors…

But then I thought of that night in my first year when I had sat with the twins in the Astronomy Tower. George had divulged that he was most afraid of losing me and Fred. Was that still true? And how would a boggart show that?

Then I started thinking of losing my friends, my family. What would I do without them, without Harry and George? Without Fred. I shuddered at the thought before a brand new one took hold. What if the boggart appeared as my mother? I obviously wasn't afraid of my own mum, but I knew deep down that her vacant expression hurt just as much as it had as a child. Of course, I didn't say anything anymore, but seeing her look at me was like deepening a scar that could never heal. But was that fear?

Cedric tapped me on the shoulder which brought me out of my plundering reverie. I noticed students pushing their desks to the sides of the classroom and I quickly got up to join them. I didn't want Cedric, or anyone else, to notice my anxiety.

Remus ordered us into a line and somehow, I still ended up near the front. Angelina had come out of nowhere to take my hand and dragged me towards the front of the line where she stood with the rest of my friends. Cedric had followed along to which I was very appreciative.

Angelina ended up being the first student to go up against the boggart, I could see the determination on her face. I also hadn't realized I was holding my breath until Cedric held my hand and rubbed his thumb over it in a soothing gesture, but I didn't take my gaze off of her.

Angelina held her wand at the ready as Remus unlocked the trunk. Immediately we were met by the sight of a hooded-cloaked figure. The man, or whatever it was, showed no face but stood their looming in an intimidating fashion. It took me a moment to realize this figure was supposed to be Lord Voldemort. I could see Angelina freeze in her own mind as she stood staring at the boggart. I couldn't see her face, so it was difficult to gauge her full reaction. However, a moment later, I heard her perform the charm against it, reducing the once fearsome being into big, blow-up balloon. It was almost eerie to watch the once menacing form idly float in front of Angelina, but most of the other students laughed.

We all high-fived Angelina as she walked past our group and went to the back of the room. Alicia was next. Like Ange, a figure stepped out of the trunk when Remus unlocked it, but this time it was obviously a man with a familiar face. It was Sirius Black. He looked like the posters I had seen in Diagon Alley which is no doubt where Alicia gotten these images. I hadn't realized that his escape had affected her so, but then again most of Britain was under high alert for his re-capture.

Alicia froze for about just as long as Angelina had before transforming the gray-eyed murderer into a fluffy little dog. I guess his shaggy hair had inspired her.

Fred went up next. I started to feel slightly dizzy from the amount of time I was holding my breath. Once again when the trunk was opened a familiar person appeared out of it, but this time they were suddenly asleep on the floor. George was at Fred's feet, unmoving. I realized he must be dead. The gasp I released was audible and I felt Cedric's grip on my hand tighten. I didn't pry my eyes off of George, or at least the image of his dead body. I could also see the anger shuddering through Fred's shoulders as he somehow managed to udder the charm. However, instead of something funny appearing, George was replaced by a dead girl. My eyes somehow widened even more, instantly recognizing the girl as me. I gaped at the boggart-version of myself who was lying eerily still at Fred's feet. My body was stark white with no signs of life as my chestnut hair lay limp over my shoulders.

Fred's shoulders had stopped moving along with his entire body. He was just standing there like a statue.

Remus came over and put a hand on Fred's shoulders before summoning his own charm on the creature. I wondered how Remus was affected by it, I was his niece after all.

But after Remus uttered the defensive charm my body became a play doll before being thwarted back into the trunk. Remus took a moment before turning around and sending Fred to join the others in the back of the room. As he passed, he didn't even look in my direction.

Nobody was eager to go next after that.

I looked around as everyone else immediately found the floor or the ceiling highly fascinating. No one wanted to be called upon. Determinedly, I stepped forward since no one else seemed to want to, and all of a sudden, I felt like I had something to prove. I didn't want the vision of my own death to impede me from anything.

I stared decisively forward and was even patted on the back by George and Katie as I passed by. Soon I squared off from the trunk and waited in anxious anticipation. Once my wand was raised, I gave Remus a small nod, not wanting to take my gaze from the trunk.

Again, the trunk was opened to reveal a person stepping out of it. I was almost expecting to see Fred or George, much like Fred's boggart, or maybe even Sirius Black, like Alicia's. But the person coming towards me was a woman, and her appearance made my skin crawl. From her long, curly, black hair to her saucer-like dark eyes, everything about Bellatrix Lestrange was horrifying. Like her cousin, her image was well-known and often used in the Daily Prophet when news was slow. She was always labelled the most fearsome Death Eater alive. She was also the one who tortured my mother.

Like me, she also had her wand raised forward and looked as if she were about to use it. Thoughts of my mother seeing Bellatrix like this moments before being tortured into insanity filled my mind as I tried to maintain focus. I had to remind myself that I was not about to be tortured, that this time I had the upper hand. She wasn't real.

I repeated these thoughts until they became a mantra and I was finally able to cast the charm, turning the disturbed Death Eater into a plush toy with curly black hair. There was no way in hell I would ever want to play with that thing.

I turned to go and join the others in the back, feeling utterly exhausted. Angelina and Alicia congratulated me, but Fred still wouldn't look me in the eye. I knew he wasn't mad, so I decided to give him some space to sort himself out.

It wasn't any easier watching the others face the boggart even though my turn had finished. George's was similar to Fred's as I watched our dead bodies lay at his feet. Lee's ended up being a banshee which I felt was kind of random while Katie's ended up also being Sirius Black. The reoccurrence of both George and Katie's was not any easier than the first time to witness.

The only other fear I was interested in after that was Cedric's and he ended up going right after my friends. I watched more curiously since I didn't really have a clue as to what his boggart would show. I watched as Remus re-opened the trunk to shockingly see Mr. Diggory step out of it. As far as I knew, Cedric had a pretty close relationship with his father, and even saw past his blunt character.

I was almost waiting to see anger or something fear-striking in Mr. Diggory's face to explain the boggart, but I realized that his expression was sad. Grief-stricken actually. I knew the look all too well as it haunted my own mind. Images of my father from my childhood flooded back as I remembered what the separation from my mother had done to my own father.

In that moment I looked away, feeling as if this moment was too intimate for me to witness. I ended up hearing Cedric utter the charm and didn't look back until Cedric was coming to sit beside me. I studied his expression as he sat down and saw the anxiety paired with embarrassment fill his face. I took his hand as a sign of comfort and was glad when he didn't move away. I hoped he would also take the gesture as a sign that I didn't need an explanation or even expect one. I had my fair share of complex family situations so I definitely wouldn't judge him for his.

By the end of the lecture, most of my friends were beaming with self-assuredness. Ange was definitely the worst as she acted like she had just triumphantly taken down a mountain troll. Cedric however had excused himself politely and promised to meet up with me later after dinner. I just smiled when he left, not wanting him to feel any pressure.

The twins however were uncharacteristically quiet. I ended up walking in-between them and matching their pace as I waited for one of them to speak. Both of them didn't utter a word the entire way back to the common room but did end up each taking one of my hands. At least I felt I was comforting them a little.

XXX

It wasn't long before the twins bounced back, returning to their regular-animated selves by dinner. They hadn't said a word about their own boggart yet, but I already knew their feelings on the matter. It seemed little had changed since our discussion on the Astronomy Tower several years ago.

They did however jump out of a broom cupboard when Lee walked by, shrieking like a banshee. This caused Lee to let out a high-pitched scream in response and he still hadn't forgiven them.

By the time dinner was cleared, I excused myself from my friends to go and find Cedric. A little surprisingly, but as promised, he was waiting by our usual bench. A small smile reached his lips as I approached.

"Care for a walk?" he asked, reaching to take my arm.

I happily obliged, letting him lead us towards the Divination Tower. No one would be there at this hour. As we walked through the quiet corridors, I could feel some anxiety start to form in the pit of my stomach. I knew I had already decided to tell him, I just never liked this part.

"Bellatrix was the one who attacked my mother," I blurted out unexpectedly.

Cedric stopped and turned to look at me with concern.

"You don't have to explain yourself Marnie," Cedric said kindly.

The joy I felt at his words competed with my growing anxiety.

"I know. And I thank-you for that and I extend the same curtesy, but I want to tell you about my mother now," I explained.

He continued to look at me kindly, allowing me to continue.

"I was three years old the night she tried to save Harry's parents. But she was too late, and only ended up rescuing Harry," I paused, drawing a breath to continue.

"That was very brave of your mother, I'm glad she was able to get Harry to safety," Cedric said, causing me to nod.

"Yes, that was very lucky. My mother actually came face to face with You Know Who that night, but by then he was already too weak. She was able to get Harry to safety, but somehow ended up being caught on her own again by Bellatrix who was furious about You Know Who's sudden departure. She tortured my mum into insanity in retribution and my mother has been at St. Mungo's ever since," I was trying to suppress my tears by this point.

"She has no recollection of ever having a husband or daughter either," I ended sadly.

I had no voice to continue. In response, Cedric took hold of me and brought me into a tight embrace.

"I am so sorry Marnie, I am just so sorry," he repeated sympathetically.

I could hear the sincerity in his voice. When I eventually pulled away it was to look into his eyes.

"I just wanted you to know that I understand your boggart, there's no need to explain. My father wore that same look for years, it's not something you ever forget."

Cedric nodded solemnly, not elaborating on the subject. He knew there was nothing to explain. After continuing our walk, Cedric eventually ended up escorting me back to the Gryffindor common room just before curfew.

"Good-night Marnie," he said softly before bringing his face to mine and kissing me softly on the cheek.

His warm breath sent shivers throughout my body and caused my face to turn hot.

"Good-night Cedric," I whispered, watching him leave down the stairs.

It was long after he had disappeared from view when I finally turned towards the portrait of the fat lady.

"Much like your mother you are," the fat lady said in an almost patronising tone.

"My mother wasn't in Gryffindor," I snapped back, not having any patience for quips against my mother.

"No, but that lad of hers was," she replied slyly.

"My father was never at school," I answered blankly.

The fat lady gave a sly smirk.

"My dear girl, I am talking about your mother and Sirius Black."


	37. Falling

**Off to another exciting chapter, I am having a lot of fun with Prisoner of Azkaban!**

 **I just wanted to preface with a point on the boggarts from last chapter. I really enjoyed putting everything together and wanted to say I did do some research about them. It was mentioned online that those with Lord Voldemort as a boggart, Riddikulus turns him into a dummy, so that's why I chose the doll. I also wanted to say that I did struggle with finding things that were funny, especially when most everyone's was so serious.**

 **Happy reading everyone!**

When I hurried past the fat lady, I quickly ran up to my room, ignoring the looks from my friends.

My mother had dated Sirius Black? The idea itself seemed preposterous, inconceivable… impossible. This was the man who had betrayed her, all of them.

My mind was reeling from behind the closed red curtains since I had wanted to remain undisturbed from my dormmates. Aster came over to sit on my chest and I methodically started running my finger over their wings and I tried to will myself to sleep. Apparently, Aster seemed to like this, and I wanted answers. I just had to fall asleep. Eventually, I did end up falling into a restless sleep and tried to summon my own dreams. If my family didn't want to tell me the truth about Sirius Black, then maybe my mother would.

I was walking in the pitch black of my dream, willing a memory to appear that would provide any necessary information. But I had never done this before.

I tried calling his name.

"Sirius," I called out, feeling a little hopeless. "Sirius!" I repeated again, with more volume.

A scene started to appear around me. When it finally came into a focus, I realized I was on a familiar looking street. There was also a black-haired man running towards me.

"Lena!" he called frantically.

"Sirius, where have you been?" I asked with equal hysteria.

We turned to stare at the Potter residence.

"Are they….?" he asked in a frightened whisper.

I felt my body convulse under stress.

"I can't, not again," I started, feeling the sobs escape.

Sirius Black put his arms around me and tightly pressed me against his body, almost as if trying to keep us both standing.

"We can't leave them," he whispered into my hair, wet from his tears.

"I know."

He hesitantly pulled away but didn't let go of my hand as we started towards the house with great hesitation.

"He might still be inside," Sirius said wearily, trying to put an edge into his voice.

"He's not, I already saw him leave," I replied, feeling a shudder crawl up my spine.

"What!?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Not now," I said, almost whimpering.

We were now paused at the door with Sirius' other hand on the doorknob. He inhaled deeply, as if trying to summon the ability to open it, before turning the handle and propping it open. The hallway was darkened, and it felt as if my blood had frozen inside my body. The tears were a continuing steam down my face, but the sobs had subsided for now.

I took out my wand. "Lumos."

I braced myself as we walked into the short hallway before looking into the den. I knew James was right off the entryway.

Sirius' agonized cry was evidence enough that he had spotted his proclaimed brother lying on the floor. I didn't want to see him again, but I knew I couldn't let Sirius alone. I allowed myself to crumple to the floor, more out of necessity since I felt I could no longer stand. It was too much to bear.

"That bastard!" Sirius suddenly shouted.

"I think he's gone now," I said meekly.

"Not him! Wormtail!" he continued.

"What do you mean?" I could hear the disbelief in my mother's voice.

I could also tell she didn't want to hear the answer.

"I'm going to kill him!" Sirius continued with vengeance and hate coursing through his voice.

It was terrifying.

I woke up with a start and was thankful to see the red curtains of my four-poster bed surrounding me. Aster was looking at me with concern since I had startled them awake. Carefully, I put Aster onto the pillow before throwing back the curtains and running towards the washroom. I felt like I was going to be sick. I had had this dream before, but it had never gone this far. The feelings my mother felt were like my own and now I felt crippled with grief. I ran some cold water on my face and tried to even out my breathing. It took several moments before I could even lift my head again. The walls of the dormitory seemed too confined, I needed some space. I quickly threw on some pants and the jumper that Mrs. Weasley had made me before heading out of the room. I was almost jogging down the stairs with my head looking down when I bumped into someone on their way up.

"Marnie!" Angelina exclaimed.

I looked up at her to apologize but saw the anxiety on her face.

"What's happened?" I asked worriedly.

I didn't think I could take anything she was about to say.

"It's Sirius Black, he's just tried to get into the common room!" she said frantically.

I blanched, feeling the nausea rising again.

"Professor McGonagall is taking us all to the Great Hall, I was just on my way to come get you," she continued.

I didn't reply but followed at her brisk pace to the common room where everyone was quickly gathering.

"Hare!" I heard Fred say anxiously from across the room.

He was coming over at a hurried pace.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly, surveying my face.

He obviously saw something I hadn't been able to hide.

"What did you see?" he asked in a whisper to avoid others hearing.

"I saw him," I replied uneasily, unsure if the words had even left my lips.

"He won't hurt you, I promise," Fred said confidently, bringing me into a protective embrace.

"Gryffindor's follow me!" I heard an authoritative sounding Percy order from the entrance of the common room.

Fred released me but took my hand and led me towards the exit. I barely felt my other hand being taken by Harry who was looking at me with concern. I knew he suspected I had had a dream, but there was no way I could tell him. At this moment I was just worried that Sirius Black was going to get his hands on Harry, and I wouldn't be able to defend him.

A new sense of fury started taking hold when I thought about the fact that Sirius Black had somehow been able to enter one of the most secure places in magical Britain which was also currently being guarded by dementors. It shouldn't be possible. And if that couldn't keep him out, how were Harry and I supposed to stop him?

When we arrived at the Great Hall I could see the other houses filing in. I was relieved when I saw Cedric enter the room and made an effort to catch his eye. Despite everything that was going on, I just wanted to ensure he was alright.

"School-wide slumber party?" Cedric asked lightly as he came over, obviously oblivious to the situation.

"Are you daft? Sirius Black tried to get into our common room!" Fred retorted angrily.

I also realized he was still holding my hand. I pulled my hand back and gave him a withering look.

"Well he didn't know that now did he. I just found out about two minutes ago myself so why don't you sod off?" I replied forcefully.

My usual level of patience was non-existent, and I had no time to referee Fred's attitude. Fred shuffled his feet and mumbled an apology before I saw him go off and join George.

"Is it true?" Cedric asked concernedly.

I could see him trying to keep up his confident façade, but the truth was we were all scared.

"Yes, it appears to be," I replied evenly.

My anxiety was currently being overtaken by my level of exhaustion.

"Should I stay with you?" he asked sincerely, the fear now plain on his face.

It was sweet how Cedric obviously cared for me and wanted to protect me but sleeping beside him seemed too intimate for the current state of our relationship.

"I'll be fine Ced, I have Harry and the others to stay with me. You should go be with your friends and stick together," I replied with my own level of concern showing through.

I wanted to make sure he knew how worried I was about him as well.

He gave me a soft smile in return.

"That's the first time you've called me Ced."

He then took my hand and brought it up to his lips before kissing it sweetly. Despite the chaos around us, for a split second, I felt like we were the only two in the room. I somehow felt grounded and weightless at the same time and was thankful to be temporarily brought out of my own anxiety.

"Good-night Mar, sweet dreams," he said softly, dropping my hand back down.

"Good-night Ced, be safe," I replied, reluctant to let him go.

But he nodded and turned around to go and find his friends. I sighed and followed suit, finding my friends in an assortment of states. Although the overall mood was still anxious, the girls were giving me big grins after seeing me with Cedric. Ginny and Hermione were also there, bearing their own grins while the boys rolled their eyes. Fred had an unreadable expression but dropped it quickly before I could decipher anything while Harry looked livid. I guess your maniac godfather trying to kill you and then watching your sister have an intimate moment with her boyfriend was too much to handle. He didn't say a word after that. Ron just scowled when I walked past which just caused Ginny to whack him over the head.

Immune to everyone's reactions, I crawled into the sleeping bag beside Angelina and did my best to ignore her sly grin. However, Alicia and Katie had returned to panicking and I could hear Lee and George trying to calm them down.

Five minutes later, Percy, along with the other prefects, were dimming the lights and ordering everyone to sleep. I closed my eyes and listened to everyone around me fall into their own slumber. But I was plagued by the vivid memories from my dream and was in no state to fall back asleep. It had been one of the worst ones yet, but I guess mum had been trying to warn me what Sirius Black was capable of. He was obviously cunning and resourceful enough to break into the castle undetected and had blatantly vowed to kill who I could only assume was Peter Pettigrew all those years ago. It was disturbing to think what this man was capable of committing.

XXX

Over the next week most everyone was on edge, but that didn't stop anyone from getting hyped about the upcoming quidditch game.

Hufflepuff had replaced Slytherin against Gryffindor since Draco Malfoy was feigning an injured arm due to his mild scuffle with Hagrid's hippogriff.

So I was spending my evenings going back-and-forth between watching both teams' practice. The Hufflepuff team had been skeptical of my close connections with the entire Gryffindor team, but dating the team captain had its perks. So, every night I would bring out my homework to keep up for my OWLs and sit in the stands to support my friends and boyfriend. By the end of the week however, things were seeming a bit tense.

"Marnie, you shouldn't be sitting and watching the Hufflepuff's. It's treason," Ron fumed one night in the common room.

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded. "You're not even on the team, what has gotten into you?"

Ron just grumbled and folded his arms over his chest.

I rolled my eyes at his odd behaviour. This incited a chorus of giggling from the girls who looked at me slyly.

"Cedric is so quiet and mysterious," Katie giggled which caused Lee to sigh and look at me warily.

"Kate, he's not mysterious," I said, wanting to placate the ongoing glares I was constantly receiving from Lee.

"But he is a gentleman," Alicia cut in.

I just rolled my eyes and shrugged. It had been like this all week and I was on the losing side of an up-hill battle. I gave my best apologetic look to Lee. He didn't look impressed.

"The real question is do you have any insider tips? You could be our little spy," George suggested for the tenth time that night.

I turned my exasperated expression towards him, but he just shrugged.

"I know you'll cave eventually."

"I told you I won't tell you anything, just like I don't tell Cedric anything about your strategies," I explained again.

"Who's been leaking Gryffindor quidditch strategies?" Oliver Wood asked frantically when he passed by.

Alicia rolled her eyes.

"No one Oliver, Marnie has kept her word," Angelina reassured their captain.

He gave me a hard look before nodding and continuing up towards the boys' dormitories.

"Everyone should be asleep by nine!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Good-night Oliver," everyone replied evenly.

Everyone was used to Oliver's high-strung personality when it came quidditch. The poor bloke only wanted to win the cup in his final year.

Obligingly, we did all go to sleep at nine though. Despite how much Oliver annoyed his team, they did respect him and the game. They also wanted to win almost as badly as he did. Almost.

The next morning, I headed out to the pitch with Ron, Hermione and Neville to watch the match. Unfortunately, the rain was torrential and there was no possible way of staying dry. Thankfully, Hermione had been clever enough to put a charm on Harry's glasses, so he would be able to see the snitch better, or at all. The rain was almost like a white sheet.

I could barely see Oliver and Cedric walk towards the middle of pitch to shake hands before taking their places back with their teams. I couldn't hear the whistle over the wind, but moments later all the players were in the air. It was difficult to keep track of everyone since they would disappear into the rain and I could hardly hear Lee, so it was difficult to keep up with the score.

"Blimey it's freezing," Ron shouted from beside me.

The rain had been cool, but it felt like a new, frostier chill was taking hold.

"They've seen it!" Hermione exclaimed from my other side pointing at Harry and Cedric racing for the snitch.

I watched in anticipation but saw Harry stop in his tracks. As the panic started to set in, I stood up and leaned against the wooden rail since we had gotten front-row seats.

There was a billowing, cloaked creature floating in front of Harry.

I cried out his name, but flashes of James' body floated across my vision.

"Harry!" I shouted, worried it was his dead body I was seeing.

"No!" I screamed louder, frantic to get to my brother's body.

I could faintly see him falling through the air and then saw a flash of a motionless body lying on the floor.

"Harry," I said one more time, still trying to reach out my hand to touch him before everything went dark.

xx

"Harry's fallen!" Angelina exclaimed as she quickly dismounted beside George and started to run after Fred.

"Hare will never forgive me," Fred muttered to himself.

He approached Harry's unconscious body with trepidation before bending down to assess him. He also heard Alicia shriek when she approached, and Fred knew how bad it looked. Thankfully, Harry appeared to be breathing, but they needed to get him to the hospital wing immediately.

"Marnie!" Fred heard someone say from above him.

 _"Oh great_ ," Fred thought to himself. " _Hare doesn't need to see Harry like this."_

"Marnie!" Fred heard Angelina exclaim before he saw his friend stand up and bolt for the other side of the pitch.

"What's going on?" Fred asked aloud, frustrated that it was taking so long for a teacher to arrive.

Then he saw her, crumpled in a heap at the foot of the stands. His Marnie being surrounded by several students and teachers.

Finally, Madam Hooch was coming over to help him with Harry.

"What happened?" Fred croaked, still staring as Cedric knelt by Marnie's side.

"She passed out from the dementor, same as Potter. Fell from the stands it looks like. Quite a few broken bones but she's breathing. She'll be fine," Madam Hooch explained much too casually for Fred.

All he wanted to do was leave Harry with the quidditch teacher and flee to her side, but she would never forgive him for leaving Harry. He had also fallen from a great height. Plus, Diggory was there. As much as Fred hated to admit it, the pretty boy did obviously care for Marnie, and would at least ensure she got to the hospital wing before Fred could attend to her himself.

Fred gritted his teeth.

" _If it wasn't for this bloody rain, I could have seen her. I would have caught her,"_ Fred thought to himself furiously.

 _And why the hell had a dementor been in the middle of the quidditch pitch during a match?_

Fred ended up escorting Harry up to the castle along with his teammates and watched Cedric like a hawk the entire time. Angelina and Ginny were also with Marnie which made Fred more comfortable with the situation, but he was still antsy.

xx

Harry started to stir from his bed.

"Did we win?" were the first words out of his mouth.

The team couldn't look him in the eye.

"Cedric caught the snitch mate," George explained delicately.

"He did try to ask for a rematch, but they won fairly," Katie added disappointedly.

Harry looked dejected and obviously angry with himself.

"No one blames you mate," Fred said, wanting to cheer him up, especially with Marnie still unconscious.

Fred started to stare at Marnie again and tuned out of the conversation. She always looked so fragile when she slept, especially being covered in bruises. She was also still soaking wet and wished the matron would hurry up and attend to her.

"Marnie?" Fred snapped out of his thoughts and turned back to Harry.

He had a frantic look in his eye.

"What happened to Marnie?" Harry asked anxiously, now turning to look at the far bed she was laying in.

"Same thing as you I guess," Lee shrugged.

"We were with her," Ron started to explain. "She was screaming your name and then she just passed out. We tried to catch her mate, really! But she was already leaning over and then she just fell."

It was obvious Ron was worried his best friend would be angry with him. But Harry tried to sit up instead causing Fred to push him back down.

"Rest up mate, she's in good hands," he said quietly.

Harry looked over again and saw Cedric idly sitting by her bedside. He sighed before nodding and relaxed back down onto his pillow.

"He better not try anything funny with her," Harry added grumpily but didn't try to get back up.

Fred couldn't help chuckling and shaking his head. Harry obviously shared similar sentiments about Cedric as he did, but for the moment both boys knew he was who she needed, no matter how much that upset them. Fred could also see George giving him and Harry a knowing look which caused him to scowl. Fred wasn't going to give in that easily to the idea of Cedric and Marnie together, but at this moment, the dire circumstances seemed to prevail. He would have to re-assess once everything was back to normal.


	38. OWL Year

_Lena._

That was all he could think of when he saw her. Her brown hair plastered to her face because of the rain, and those shining bronze eyes. He thought they always showed the fiery spirit she hid through her gentle nature. But he knew better. Lena Tress was the bravest girl he had ever met, but how was she here? A fifteen-ish year old girl sitting and watching quidditch like it was the most natural thing to do; like they all used to do.

 _Wait, that can't be her._

He thought more realistically to himself. Lena was all grown-up; this was Harry playing-not James. Sirius sighed. And he was no longer the somewhat-innocent school-boy he had once been.

So, if that wasn't Lena up there, sitting amongst all of the red and gold adorned students…

 _Then this was Marnie._

XXX

Cedric had hardly left my bedside since I arrived in the hospital wing after the game. I had been groggy waking up and it took an entire day for the splitting migraine to pass, but now I felt ready to get on my feet again. Madam Pomfrey, however, had other plans and had ordered that Harry and I remain in the hospital wing over the weekend. Fortunately, I didn't mind my boyfriend sitting idly by my side and trying his best to keep me entertained, or at least from dying of boredom. I had also noticed that Ron and Hermione had been trying to keep Harry occupied from sulking over his broken broom since they hadn't left Harry either.

Cedric still felt terribly about winning the game, but from his retelling it seemed like he had won fairly, despite the anguish felt by the Gryffindors. In return, I had felt badly that I didn't see him win, since by that point I had been falling out of the stands.

The one downfall to all of the company though was that it had been difficult to talk to Harry, and I knew something other than his obliterated Nimbus was bothering him. Remus also made it his habit to come and visit us alone after curfew, since professors did not have to abide by such rules.

"And how are my two miracles this evening?" Remus asked us with his given nickname.

He had thought it quite astounding that we had both been relatively unscathed after separately falling about thirty feet to the ground. Dad had also lost it when Remus had the unfortunate duty of writing home to him. Apparently, Professor Dumbledore had thought it best if the news of his two children almost falling to their deaths came from his best friend and not the same man who had told him about the mountain troll and basilisk.

"Ready to get back to my own bed," I pouted in return.

I hated the feel of the hospital wing, and I longed for the coziness of the fifth-year dorm. Angelina had informed me that Aster was starting to look weary from my absence, so she had started to bring Aster's cage over to her bedside, so they would have someone nearby.

"I heard that Poppy is willing to let you both out of here tomorrow, just in time for classes to start back up," Remus replied lightly.

Harry kept quiet, still as moody as he had been all weekend.

"Harry, I am deeply sorry about your broom. I have been trying to sort something out with Joss, but right now doesn't seem to be the best time, he's still in a bit of a fit after you both fell," Remus explained in his gentle tone.

"No, I have the money to buy a new broom over the summer. I just really liked this one and will have to play the rest of the season on the school brooms," Harry sighed.

"Well, I will see what Joss and I can do. Maybe he can access your vault and send one over in the post," Remus continued as cheerfully as he could.

Harry sighed and nodded again. He was never very good at hiding his frustration.

"Why were the dementors even at the pitch?" Harry finally asked in an exasperated tone.

He had obviously been chewing this thought around for a while.

"Yes, well, my guess is they are getting restless that Sirius has not yet been captured. It was the Ministry's promise that he would be caught within the month and now we are into November," Remus answered, the cheerfulness falling from his face.

Remus had been fairly tight lipped about his ex-best friend being an escaped murderer going after the boy he had been helping to raise over the past three years. I was amazed that he could keep it together so well.

Harry did not share this tactful trait.

"Why is it only Marnie and I who faint? I mean, it cost me the game and my broom. What if it's even worse next time? I need to be able to protect myself… and Marnie," Harry went on, anger now evident in his voice.

Of course, I had been annoyed and even scared by the fact that I had plummeted nearly thirty feet down off of the stands when I had seen the dementor on the pitch. The thoughts that impeded my mind next had also been nerve-racking, but I had not thought about the threat of a next time. Obviously, Harry had been keeping tabs and the dementors were ahead two to zip against both Harry and me. Each time we had come into contact with the dark creatures we had both passed out. Something that Malfoy and Flint loved to bring up at every possible opportunity they had to anyone who would listen.

Remus looked thoughtful. "Well, you and Marnie have both experienced much more loss and grieving in your past, something the dementors can easily pick up on. This is why you two both react more severely. But, as it seems to trouble you, I would be willing to teach you the counter-spell, so you feel more equipped and protected."

"Really! That would be brilliant," Harry replied, obviously eager for the opportunity.

"Why don't I let you two rest up?" Remus said afterwards, standing up from the foot of my bed. "You both best be getting a good-night's sleep so there is no reason to keep you here any longer."

Remus came over and kissed my forehead like he used to do when I was little. His gentle expression cracked for a moment and I could see the anxiety he was obviously feeling. I guess having the two people he considered as his children to be in the hospital wing at the same time did not bode well for one's nerves.

We both watched him as he exited the hospital wing before the two of us turned to face each other.

"So, is that what has been bothering you?" I asked knowingly.

Harry sighed again, probably annoyed at how well I knew him.

"Yes, that was part of it, but…" he paused, looking at the closed door of the matron's office.

"I know this sounds mad… but… well, I saw a Grimm," he finished after stumbling over his own words.

I looked thoughtfully at Harry's expression and could tell he felt even more nervous than he was letting on. I knew he normally didn't take Professor Trelawney's visions very seriously, but it was also daunting to have a teacher predict your death every class, especially when a mass murderer was coming after you.

"When?" I asked, feeling intrigued by this potential mystery.

"Well, there was an enormous, black dog at the quidditch game. It was off to the side, away from the stands, but it was there. You should have seen it Marnie, this was no regular dog" Harry continued in a shaky voice.

I already knew about all of the prophecies Professor Trelawney had told Harry, and we had mostly just laughed them off as nonsense. But now, Harry had just fallen off of his broom after witnessing a behemoth of a black dog.

Before I could say anything, we noticed the light turn off from Madam Pomfrey's office which meant she would be coming out to check that we were asleep.

"I won't let anything hurt you," I whispered to Harry.

I couldn't see his reaction through the darkness but knew he would take my words seriously.

"No Marnie, I'm going to learn how to keep you safe." Harry thought to himself before rolling over and closing his eyes to fall asleep.

XXX

A lot happened over the next month which left me itching for the Christmas holiday's.

Uncle Remus had kept true to his word and had been meeting Harry sporadically to teach him the Patronus charm. Apparently, they were using a boggart which meant I could not join in since my boggart was not a dementor like Harry's. No one wanted to see Bellatrix Lestrange again.

The amount of homework was also catastrophic which meant that I could not spend much time with either Cedric or any of my friends. We did all try to study together but I had been so caught up in the amount of work I had that I never knew who was sitting next to me.

I also had a meeting with Professor McGonagall to talk about my career prospects. McGonagall had handed out slips of paper with meeting times on them one day in early November in order to discuss our plans with her.

11:00 on Tuesday

I held the slip of paper in my fist as I knocked on her office door.

"Come in," I heard the professor call out from inside the room.

I opened the heavy looking wooden door with surprising ease before entering the office. The professor was sitting at her desk, looking like she was marking a pile of two-foot essays. Oh, to be in first year again.

"Have a seat Miss. O'Hara," Professor McGonagall ordered as she gestured to the opposite chair closest to me.

I sat down nervously while I waited for McGonagall to finish writing her notes. I had honestly forgotten these career counselling meetings existed and hadn't given my career goals much thought.

"So, before we start, are there any careers that you feel confident about?" she asked prudently.

I hadn't noticed McGonagall look up from her marking and now my palms were starting to sweat.

"Actually, I don't really have an idea…" I started before the professor cut me off.

"Not to worry Miss O'Hara. There are lots of students who are unsure at your age. This is why we ask now, so we can gear you in the right direction before it is too late. Now, I see you have been taking Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, and Divination as your electives," McGonagall said with skepticism in her voice when she said the last one.

I nodded at her in agreement.

"Your grades have also been exceptional, and I have no doubt you will receive all of your O. at the end of the year. Although, I must mention that you might want to put the extra effort into Potions and History of Magic," she said knowingly.

I could feel myself blush.

"I think I can do that," I answered sheepishly.

"Of course, you can," Professor McGonagall said much more confidently than I felt.

"I have also been told by Professor Sprout that you have been extremely knowledgeable in Herbology throughout your studies. Professor Hagrid also mentioned to me this morning that you have a keen sense with animals and that you have been keeping a fairy?" she asked incredulously.

I still didn't know the policy about having fairies for pets.

"Well, I must tell you that upon hearing this I did go up and check on the creature since it is highly unorthodox to have a fairy in your dorm. They often live in groups and are very loyal amongst their colonies. However, it seems this one is quite attached to you. I noticed you keep the window open and it seemed to blatantly ignore me when I tried to usher it out," she said with something unreadable in her voice. "That being said, there are great opportunities associated with both of those fields. Magizoologists, for instance, study different magical creatures which I am sure could pique your interest. There are many esteemed persons in the profession, such as Gondoline Oliphant who specialized in studying trolls," McGonagall explained.

"Trolls…" I cut in, remembering too clearly of my one and only encounter with trolls.

"Oh, right," the professor said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Then there are obviously herbologists," she continued.

"Sorry, professor," I cut in again. "It's just... my father only ever told me about muggle professions. Would it be so terrible if I were to do something non-magical?"

"Of course not, child," McGonagall looked at me thoughtfully. "I just wouldn't want your father's fears to be the reason you do not pursue your own goals."

I took in her words and sat quietly for several moments.

"O'Hara, I think you are on the right track and will do exceedingly well in anything you choose. I just want to ensure that whatever profession you end up with, it will be one of your own choosing."

Professor McGonagall then stood up and led me to the door.

"Think about it over the next year and find out what it is that would make you the most happy."

She smiled at me kindly and closed the door behind me. My mind was reeling at the possibilities for my future, but I just felt the need to get through my OWL year first. But maybe I didn't have to leave the magical world to find a suitable job.


	39. Christmas Kisses

Christmas this year seemed almost tense since everyone was still so nervous about Sirius Black not being recaptured. In lieu of this, Remus had been granted access to use the Floo to get home, so we didn't have to take the train back. I guess there were a few minor perks to having Harry stalked by a mass murderer.

The nervous energy however did not stop Harry and I from bolting down the stairs Christmas morning. We had woken up with the first peak of sunlight and were excited about the prospect of Harry joining us at the Weasley's for Christmas supper.

Remus and dad were unsurprisingly already awake and were busy getting breakfast ready when we came downstairs. While we waited, we sat in the living room and eagerly picked up the hot cholate that was already waiting for us.

"Good morning, you two!" dad said as he came in to greet us.

He was wearing a worn apron over his red and green striped pyjamas and shuffled his feet in his ratty slippers.

"Breakfast is almost ready!" Remus hollered from the kitchen as I saw him dish up a pile of pancakes. Amazingly, they were stacked in an alternating pattern of red and green.

"That's brilliant!" I exclaimed, already sitting in my chair as I eagerly anticipated the arrival my breakfast.

"Just a little food colouring," my dad said modestly as he poured tea for himself and Remus.

The plate hadn't been on the table a few seconds before I was grabbing the first few off the top.

"I thought you would outgrow your habit of eating like a lion," dad chuckled as he watched me.

"Well, I am a Gryffindor," I replied proudly, pouring a good helping of syrup across my plate.

"We always wait for Marnie to have food on her plate before serving ourselves at school," Harry added cheekily.

I gave him a withering look but couldn't help but laugh at him. He was right.

Breakfast was over quickly and we dashed off towards the tree. It was my turn this year to hand out the presents and I started with the brown-papered ones from Mrs. Weasley. I was surprised however to see that she had chosen blue for my sweater this year and was reminded of the sweater Fred had received during the first Christmas I had known the twins.

It was a very pretty colour.

I pulled the sweater over my pyjamas and basked in the heat it provided. I then looked over to see Harry had received a green coloured one, just like George had that same year.

I was also excited to receive three new books from each of my family and couldn't wait to get started reading them. I would have to share them with Luna when I saw her tomorrow for Boxing Day.

Soon there were only two presents remaining and I blushed when I grabbed the small one and saw that it was from Cedric. This year at least, I had also sent him a present of my own. I had gotten him some candied hearts I had seen at Honeydukes along with a picture I had drawn of him flying around on his broom. I had drawn it one day during a practice and had waited to give it to him.

I opened his carefully and was in awe when I uncovered a small box with a charm inside.

It had been two months ago, when Cedric had commented on the bracelet that I always wore from Harry. He suggested that I put a charm on it to make it less plain. After that, I hadn't given it much thought since I loved my bracelet that said sister. But I felt I might tear up at the sight of this small little fairy charm, no bigger than my pinky nail. It also came with a note.

 _Dearest Marnie,_

 _I am wishing you a Happy Christmas and wanted you to know I am counting down the days until 1994 when I can see you again. You are the very best thing that happened to me this year and I wanted to make sure you knew how special you are to me. Like a fairy, you are my light._

 _Love,_

 _Cedric_

I was thankful that everyone seemed focused on Harry's last present and couldn't see my face turn as pink as a peony. However, I was startled out of my thoughts when I heard everyone gasp. I looked over to see Harry holding a brand new Firebolt in his hands.

"Where did you get that?" I asked in amazement.

I knew, as much as my dad and Remus tried to take care of Harry, they definitely could not have afforded this.

"There's no note," he said, obviously in awe.

I was still watching Harry as he marvelled at his new broom before I heard Remus clear his throat.

"Might I have a look at that?" he asked, a hint of worry in his tone.

I looked furtively over at my uncle and father before I realized what they were thinking. If none of us gave Harry that broom, then there were very few people left who would.

"Do you think?" I asked cautiously, not wanting to alarm Harry.

"I can't help but admit there is a strong likelihood Sirius Black somehow got this for you," Remus said solemnly.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked fretfully.

I could see his grip tighten over the broom.

"Harry, I have to make sure this broom can't hurt you," Remus said more authoritatively.

Dad was already moving to take the broom from his grasp.

"Will it get destroyed?" I asked, wanting to stand up for Harry since he had seemingly become at a loss for words.

"Only if it's jinxed or been tampered with," Remus said reassuringly.

I could see the turmoil roiling through Harry's mind, but he eventually relinquished the broom to my father who quickly brought it upstairs.

XXX

The rest of the day wasn't nearly as filled with excitement, but even brooding Harry couldn't deny his anticipation for heading to the Weasley's for Christmas dinner. We arrived shortly before five and knocked on the door. Remus had driven us here in his car, which had only taken about twenty minutes as opposed to the hours it was to walk.

"Happy Christmas!" Mr. Weasley greeted us at the door. "Remus is that yours?" he asked excitedly before any of us could say anything back.

Mr. Weasley was eyeing the car eagerly and Remus obliged him by walking him over.

The rest of us went inside and dad went to deposit our pie in the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley was no doubt finishing with supper.

"Marnie!" I heard Ginny exclaim as she came into the front entryway.

She was wearing a new, gray sweater that her mother had no doubt made her for Christmas. I let her take my hand and guide me into their sitting room with Harry close at my heels. I turned around and saw Harry taking everything in. This was the first time he had ever been to the Burrow which caused me to remember my first time. It had always felt so inviting, almost like a second home with its boisterous laughter and endless smells of cooking. It was much different than our small, quiet cottage.

"Harry! Marnie!" we heard Ron greet us as he came rushing down the stairs.

"Happy Christmas!" I said as I walked over and gave him a friendly hug.

When I released him, I saw he was the colour of a plum. The poor boy was still not too familiar with how to act around girls. I felt bad for poor Hermione who obviously must be hermaphroditic in Ron's mind, or else one of the boys.

"Are they upstairs?" I asked Ron who simply nodded.

Ginny joined me up the stairs and waited with me when I knocked on their door.

"Sod off Ron!" George said, obviously annoyed from earlier antics from his younger brother.

"Oh, I guess I'll just go back home then," I replied mockingly.

I heard a set of feet bolt towards the door and the unlatching of the lock. I was surprised Mrs. Weasley even let them have a lock on their door. Or what was more likely was that she didn't know about it yet.

"Hare!" Fred greeted with obvious excitement.

He beckoned both Ginny and I through the door before locking it behind us again.

"What are you two up to?" I asked curiously since they were both acting so secretive.

"We're just working on some ideas," George said non-chalantly.

"Have you made anything yet?" I asked, already knowing the boys must be talking about their prank project.

Around my birthday, the twins had confided in me about their aspirations for producing joke products. I thought it sounded brilliant and had since been posing ideas to them as well. So far, nothing was out of the proposal stage.

"Fred! George!" we heard their mother yelling from downstairs before either of them could reply to my question.

"Better get downstairs before she becomes suspicious," George said before standing up and leading the way out of the bedroom.

Before I could follow him and Ginny, I felt a hand clasp onto my arm.

"Can I talk with you a minute?" Fred asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"Of course," I asked, interested in what Fred wanted to talk about.

But, without saying anything, he rooted under his bed and pulled out a small, wrapped parcel. I took it from his outstretched hand hesitantly and unwrapped the tiny ribbon. Inside was a small box holding an even smaller charm. I looked up at him warmly. The charm was a shamrock, similar in size to my fairy.

Fred picked up my wrist and went to attach the newest charm.

"What's this?" he asked curiously, spotting the fairy charm.

He sighed with a smile before I could answer.

"Of course, pretty boy got you a charm as well," he said knowingly.

I was relieved to hear that Fred's voice was devoid of its usual annoyed tone whenever he talked of Cedric. In the meantime, I would have to leave the new nickname alone since there was already progress.

He silently attached the new charm.

"You know, shamrocks can be brewed in potions to help with head colds," I blurted nervously.

I had no clue why I suddenly felt uncomfortable with the silence between the two of us.

"How do you keep track of all these facts?" he asked amusedly.

The new charm was on the opposite side of the silver plate Harry had originally had inscribed.

"You know, you should work in a hospital making all these potions," he added thoughtfully.

"Is that a real job?" I asked curiously.

"I would suppose so. There has to be a witch or wizard out there discovering all these cures and potions. Why couldn't that person be you?" he stated simply.

I was thoughtful of his words as he pulled on my arm to lead me downstairs. But all was forgotten once we joined the rest of the party and enjoyed the jubilance of the Weasley's Christmas. I also noticed that everyone except Mrs. Weasley, Remus and my dad were all in new jumpers and sat in any vacant spot in the sitting room.

"Hey, you have a blue jumper this year," George observed with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Yea, mum always makes you an orange one," Ginny added.

"I like the blue," I replied, looking down at my new sweater and feeling defensive against George who was now giving me a smirk.

"It suits you," Fred added kindly pulling my attention from his suspicious brother.

I turned to Fred and returned a soft smile before he changed his expression into a scowl. I could hear the reason. Mrs. Weasley had turned up a Celestina Warbeck song.

"Mum, you're going to force me to cut off my own ears," George added, following suit with his twin.

I shook my head while Mrs. Weasley chastised the both of them before announcing dinner was ready.

Harry's eyes almost popped out of his head when he looked at the feast. Obviously, we had all seen this much food at Hogwarts, but it almost seemed more impressive on the Weasley's limited dining table.

Once we all sat down, we were able to open our magical crackers which floated across the room when pulled open and came with individual paper crowns. Mine was a sparkly purple and fit itself over my head once I put it on. I looked around to see everyone else had a different colour and were already piling food onto their plates.

As always, the evening was unforgettable, and I was absolutely stuffed by the time the last pie was cleared from the table.

The grownups enjoyed one last fire whisky while us kids were given hot chocolate with some added peppermint. The overall volume had decreased slightly as everyone digested and sunk into their seats in the sitting room. Ginny was standing behind me while she braided my hair, which felt very soothing and was making me sleepy. I was watching Harry and Ron play a game of wizard's chess while I noticed the twins were talking in hushed tones with one another, no doubt talking of their prank plans.

By the time dad stood up to announce that we should leave, I was almost asleep in my chair. Harry grabbed my hand and led me all the way to the car where I fell asleep minutes later in the backseat.

XXX

Everyone was excited when we returned to Hogwarts after the holidays. Harry had his firebolt returned to him which caused everyone to be ecstatic. Apparently, dad had owled it back to the school where many of the professors had tested the broom for tampering. It had thankfully gotten the all-clear and Harry was ready for the upcoming match against Ravenclaw.

"Marnie!" I heard my name being called as I entered the Great Hall for the return feast.

I looked over to see Cedric heading towards me with a wide grin. I went over to him in an attempt to have an ounce of privacy from my friends who I knew were watching the entire encounter. Cedric leaned down and planted a lingering kiss on my cheek. I couldn't help but notice that after, he kept his head beside my face for a lingering moment, as if disappointed in having to pull away. I hugged him back once he lifted his head and took the opportunity to kiss his cheek. I saw a light blush form where my lips touched his face.

"Would you care to join me?" he asked kindly, offering his arm for me to take.

"Of course," I answered obligingly.

I took his arm as he guided me towards the Hufflepuff table. I was unaware of my friends' reactions since I never looked back.

xx

"Why does Marnie date that tosser?" Ron asked glumly as he went over to sit with Harry and Hermione.

"He seems to treat her well," Neville added sincerely.

Ron just scowled and put his head on his hands.

"Leave it alone Ron," Fred said as he took his seat next to Harry.

"You've changed your mind then?" Angelina asked, surprised by Fred's levelheadedness on the matter.

Fred just shrugged.

Previously, Cedric had always been a sore subject between the group. Angelina had suspected Fred might have feelings for Marnie, but Cedric was honestly a great match. He treated her friend well and was insanely good looking to boot. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little jealous.

xx

I had met most of Cedric's friends over the past few months, but I hadn't shared a meal with them yet.

"Hey Marnie!" I saw a boy with short, black hair and big dimples greet me.

I knew his name was Liam Newton, Cedric's best friend. He was quite skinny and loved to talk to anyone who would listen.

"Hey Liam," I greeted back before sitting down across from him.

Cedric sat beside me, pulling my hand into his and setting them on my leg.

"How was your Christmas?" I asked, causing a large smile to cross Liam's face.

"Brilliant! My sister came back from Madrid for a visit," he answered excitedly.

I had known his sister, Olivia, was abroad working on some sort of project concerning international magical relations.

"Natalie's was pretty good too," he added, looking beside him at the pretty girl with long blonde hair tied back off her shoulders.

It also wasn't a secret that Liam had a big crush on Natalie, at least to everyone except the two of them.

"What did you do Natalie?" I asked before the girl returned a friendly smile.

"Just stayed at home with my grandparents. But my aunt and uncle came to visit, and I hadn't seen them since last year, so it was really nice," she explained.

The Hufflepuff's seemed less boisterous than the Gryffindor table always seemed to be. Cedric's friends were very polite and were never rushed to get an entire conversation out in two minutes flat. The Gryffindor's however were always energetic, even at seven in the morning when I was still half asleep. Plus, you always had to be alert for the sudden occurrence of food being thrown. Of course, food fights were prohibited, but it was common enough for Gryffindor's to throw a bagel or something similar at you to get your attention. From the outside, we must look downright unruly.

After the feast Cedric ended up walking me back to my common room and I felt relieved to finally have a minute alone with my boyfriend.

"Thank-you for the charm," I said sincerely, holding it up to show him.

"I'm glad you like it," he replied.

If he saw Fred's charm, he didn't say anything.

"And thank-you for the picture, you really have a talent," he praised while I tried not to blush.

"Well, I guess I should go to bed," I said, trying to think of something that would keep me out here a moment longer.

However, Cedric didn't say anything and instead bent down and inched his face towards mine. At the last moment, I closed my eyes and realized what he was doing.

His lips felt soft and warm as he gently moved them over mine. It was almost like a soft zing of energy being transferred over from his skin onto mine and I briefly wondered if that's what Alicia had meant by feeling the electricity.

Cedric was obviously being respectful, but I could feel the want in his movements before he pulled back. Once he released me, I expelled the breath and I hadn't known I had been holding. I opened my eyes to see his shining back at me. Unexpectedly, I realized that was not nearly enough and I quickly filled the gap between us again. I stood on my tiptoes and found his lips with mine. This time, he enveloped his arms around me and pulled me closer while I relished in his woodsy scent. Through my nose, since I remembered to breathe this time, I could smell something that could only be described as winter, and it was very enticing on him.

I finally pulled away and could see his face was flush. I didn't want to know what mine looked like. However, the amusement was also evident in his wide grin.

"I didn't expect that," he said in a breathy voice.

I smiled ruggedly back at him.

"Neither did I," I replied truthfully.

He stepped back towards me, careful with his movements this time and planted a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Goodnight Mar," he said before walking away.

It took me a moment, after he had disappeared to head into the common room. I hadn't even finished coming through the door when Alicia and Katie approached me, followed closely by Angelina.

"Tell us everything," Katie commanded while already taking my hand and pulling me towards our dorm.


	40. Victory

Thankfully, the incessant bothering about Cedric was temporarily replaced by the anticipation of Gryffindor's game against Ravenclaw; and Harry's new broom.

Part of me was relieved that the game against Hufflepuff had already passed since I was wary about Cedric facing off against Harry on his new broom. Of course, I had confidence in my boyfriend's flying abilities, but I wasn't ready to be in the middle of that feud between him and my brother.

I had been able to watch the super-coveted Gryffindor practices, much at the insistence of my friends and brother against Oliver Wood. Oliver was convinced I might be a double agent for Ravenclaw, despite only knowing Luna from that house, but in the end I had agreed to sign a contract written up by Hermione that would disallow me from telling anything. This was a compromise to Oliver's initial unbreakable vow suggestion.

"Well everyone looks fairly sure of themselves," I greeted everyone as I sat down to join them for breakfast.

"It's a shoe in with Harry's new broom," George replied confidently.

I noticed everyone digging into their breakfast with a lack of their usual uneasiness on game day.

"Don't let it get to your heads!" Oliver Wood chastised from down the table.

The Gryffindor captain was currently sitting on the other side of Alicia and was the only one who still had a full plate of food, left untouched. He looked more of the usual green colour and seemed overly anxious towards the others.

"I agree that we have an edge against Ravenclaw, but we can't get ahead of ourselves. We need this win or we are out of the running," he said sternly.

I felt bad for the bloke. He hadn't won the quidditch cup since he took the captain's mantle from Charlie Weasley, and this was his last attempt for it. But his passion had since become an obsession which I felt masked the fact that he was a fairly handsome bloke who probably had a lot to offer. I mean, all of my friends are on the team, my brother is the youngest seeker in a century, and I'm also dating the seeker from a rival team, and none of them are as driven about quidditch as Wood seems to be. It's scaring off a lot of potential.

I shook my head and served up my own plate. It was nice to see everyone in a more chipper mood than they usually were before a game. Plus, I had to admit I was a little excited at the prospect of Harry beating Cho Chang. She had since left me alone after Fred told her off in the hallway right before Cedric and I started dating, however she wasn't above sending me a glare once in a while in the corridors or from across the Great Hall.

Everyone was also ogling over Harry's broom since he had graciously placed it in the middle of the Gryffindor table. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes when everyone came to gush over the new Firebolt. Even Percy Weasley brought over his now proclaimed girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, the Ravenclaw prefect. The twins still had a hard time letting it go that Percy was actually showing affection for someone other than his prefect badge, but I thought they were cute.

"Ready to go?" I heard a familiar voice ask, causing me to look up from my breakfast.

I smiled at Cedric who was daringly wearing a Gryffindor coloured hat and looked all set to head out to the pitch.

"Yup!" I replied happily, forcing myself not to leap out of my seat.

I still found it hard to remain calm whenever he was around. Butterflies were running rampant in my stomach. Excitedly, I took his outstretched arm and wished everyone good luck as we walked by. This incited many smiles from my friends and a hardened glare from Cho Chang who had boldly even come over to ogle Harry's Firebolt. I couldn't help but also notice the sheepish look Harry had on his face and I returned it with a raised eyebrow. But he just shook his head and shrugged, erasing all evidence of the previous expression. I didn't give it much thought though as Cedric led me out towards the pitch. It didn't appear that Cedric had even noticed Cho's look, or if he had, seemingly didn't care about the unwarranted scowl.

Cedric was hasty to lead us to the front-centre of the stands and looked as if Christmas had come early.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this excited," I said, unable to stop myself from smiling in amusement.

"I love watching the other teams play! Plus, I must admit, I am eager to see Harry fly," he answered candidly.

I continued to smile at him, feeling the infectiousness of his excitement. Of course, I was always eager to watch my friends play, but it must be different to watch a game when you were a player for another team. I supposed none of my friends were really any better.

"That's not true though," he said without taking his eyes off the pitch where the players were now assembling.

"What do you mean?" I asked blankly.

"That you've never seen me this excited," he replied easily, now turning to face me.

I continued to give him a questioning look.

He smirked. "I was definitely much more excited when you agreed to go out with me," he replied with his eyes almost shimmering.

I could have sworn I blacked out for a couple seconds. But when my senses finally reacted somewhat sensically to his ridiculous answer I still couldn't say anything.

"Marnie, nothing makes me happier than you. Not even flying," he added, kissing me on the nose as if what he had just said was easily plausible.

I kept staring dumbfoundedly but was snapped out when Cedric turned his gaze at the sound of the whistle. Harry was already whizzing around the pitch before any of the others had even reached their positions. It was incredible to see him fly.

My focus was interrupted though when I felt the warm pressure of Cedric taking my hand. I tried to press myself to maintain focus on watching Harry, reminding myself that he had almost died during the last match. But then again, so had I…

It was truly impressive watching the game and Cedric's excitement was now palpable, causing me to sneak sideways glances at him during quick lulls in the game. It was also amusing to hear Lee's commentary since he kept rambling on about details of the Firebolt. It wasn't until McGonagall threatened to demote him from his announcer position that he was able to refocus.

"Spinnet has the quaffle. She makes an easy pass to Johnson who was waiting to make the catch. Nice one ladies!" Lee boasted, despite the watchful glare from McGonagall.

"Potter sees the snitch!" he added before the professor could make any hasty decisions.

This caused the whole school to watch as Harry flew downwards towards a gleam of gold.

"Wait, what is that?" Lee said over the excited jitters of the stands who were all still watching Harry.

Everyone started looking around, myself included, who looked around towards the opposite end of the pitch. I instantly gasped, along with everyone else. There, on the outskirts on the pitch, was a Grimm standing and seemingly watching the game.

 _"Harry had been right!"_ I thought anxiously.

Despite listening to Harry and agreeing on the possibility that his paranoia had some grounds, I had never really believed a physical Grimm was stalking him. But no dog was that size and this big, black beast was looking pointedly towards Harry as he dove.

I heard the chaos around me but was still transfixed by this creature. It was like my stare had now become stuck and I couldn't pry my eyes to see how everyone else was reacting. Startlingly, the Grimm eventually turned its pointed gaze and landed on mine, as if it had sensed my stare. We looked at each other for what felt like several moments before it all of a sudden stood up and quickly ran out of sight. I had half a mind to get out of my seat and run after it, but Cedric was now standing up beside me and jumping up and down enthusiastically.

"Marnie, they won! Harry caught the snitch!" he said excitedly, somehow causing me to smile even though my insides were shaken.

He was already leading me by my hand since he was still holding onto it. But it wasn't until we reached the pitch and saw the entire Gryffindor team was laughing hysterically that I figured out why everyone else had gasped; four Slytherin students, including Flint, had dressed as dementors during the game. McGonagall was furious, spewing out different sorts of punishments while the boys fought to untangle themselves from their robes.

It was pretty funny…

But that meant no one else had seen the Grimm.

"Marnie, we won!" Angelina came up and scooped me into a hug.

Katie and Alicia joined in, forming a loose circle as we all jumped up and down. Their excitement was catching.

"Party in the Gryffindor Tower!" George shouted, inciting a roaring assent from the assembled Gryffindors.

Fred was the next to scoop me into a hug and lifted me up into the air.

"Put me down, you prat," I ordered, trying to suppress both my amused smile and the concerned frown I still had from the Grimm sighting.

"You alright Hare?" Fred asked without missing a beat.

"Yea, I just want to make sure you get enough butter beer for the party," I replied quickly.

Fred gave me a thoughtful look before replacing it with a boastful smile.

"Don't worry, George and I never disappoint!" he said confidently before bowing in an exaggerated manner and rushing off with George towards the school; no doubt towards the statue of the one-eyed witch.

Finally, I saw Harry through the herd of people.

"Marnie!" he exclaimed, already approaching me from where Fred had set me down before disappearing off towards the castle.

"Congrats little brother!" I said obligingly, pride evident in my voice.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, just as perceptive as Fred.

I thought about lying to him, but knew we had a promise to never keep secrets.

"Not now," I answered in a whispered tone.

He nodded understandably before Ron came and whisked him back into the celebratory crowd.

XXX

I had luckily been able to sneak Cedric into the party. Being friends with the entire team had its privileges and he surprisingly looked right at home sitting beside me on one of the couches. I was snuggled into his shoulder while we sat with the rest of my friends. Angelina was on my other side but was keeping a respectable distance from us. Katie and Lee were also taking up most of the other couch as they not so secretively cozied up together. I guess they were no longer hiding their affections, even though we had all known for ages. The bootlegged fire whisky bottle George was passing around seemed to give them a confidence boost. The bottle made its way around our group again and this time I took a deep swig of the burning liquid. The alcohol stung the back of my throat as I tried not to cough when I swallowed. Cedric rubbed my back before I passed the bottle to him. He declined another sip and instead passed it along.

"Are you okay Mar?" he asked concernedly.

"Of course," I answered, focusing deliberately on the pronunciation of each word.

Cedric just smiled and pulled me closer into his shoulder. I even think he briefly took a moment to smell my hair as I settled back into his chest.

"I think our little Marnie is drunk," George said chidingly, despite his own slur.

"Leave her alone, it's about time Marnie let her hair down," Alicia answered, coming to my rescue.

I gave her a wide grin.

"Plus, Cedric won't let anything happen to her," Angelina said encouragingly.

I could feel Ange patting my arm affectionately and I swung my own back to return the gesture. I ended up tapping my hand on her stomach.

"So, are you two officially a couple now?" Alicia asked, looking pointedly between Katie and Lee.

"No idea what you're talking about," Lee answered swiftly, turning beet red in the process.

Katie however nuzzled closer into Lee but remained silent.

"Hopeless," I heard Ange mutter under her breath.

Cedric started to run his fingers through my hair as I lay my head on him. It became harder to stay focused as the alcohol clouded my thoughts and Cedric's movements lulled me to sleep.

"Goodnight my love," I heard someone whisper in my ear but I'm pretty sure I was asleep.

I couldn't hear anything else around me and I was stuck in a blackened abyss.

 _"Marnie. I have to protect you Marnie. I'm so sorry, please forgive me sweetheart,_ " I heard an anguished voice whisper.

I didn't know when I had actually fallen asleep or what time it was now, but my head was spinning, and I felt groggy. I peeked my eyes open and knew it was still dark. What had woken me up? I knew I had been dreaming… about the sad voices.

Then it hit me, as abrupt as the initial occurrence. I had woken up to the sound of screaming. My eyes then shot open, despite my pounding head. It took them a few moments to clear but I suddenly realized I was face-to-face with a pair of frenzied gray eyes.

I was stunned, and felt as if a spell had hit me, but I knew it hadn't. These are the same eyes from all of my dreams. The same eyes from the Azkaban poster. I was staring at Sirius Black.

The screaming was getting closer which finally broke his gaze from mine.

"I have to leave you," he said surprisingly, with anguish cutting through him.

I hadn't expected him to say anything. Especially in such a somber yet husky tone. I knew he was conflicted about something and all of a sudden I felt my own wave of anxiety and sadness, but not because a mass murderer had just been standing over me. I was so confused but didn't have time to comprehend everything because the next thing I knew Sirius Black was already gone and several Gryffindor's were piling into the common room which had previously been empty. Fred was at the front of the crowd.

"Hare!" he shouted anxiously.

I looked up to see him sprinting towards me.

"Are you alright?" he asked, surveying me for any clues.

"Umm, yea, I guess," I answered in a hoarse voice.

My throat was dry from the alcohol and I think I was in shock.

"Did you see him?" Fred asked hastily, still looking in my eyes for some apparent answers.

George had joined us now, giving me the same paranoid look.

"Who?" I asked dumbly.

"Sirius Black!" Fred almost shouted.

I could hear someone who sounded like Ron whimpering from somewhere close by. This probably meant Harry was around, if not already beside George.

"Yes. I saw him."


	41. Changing Convictions

We spent the night in the common room, since there was no way any of us were getting any sleep. Fred and George had gone as far as forbidding us from going back up to our dorm since they wouldn't be able to follow. Even though Harry didn't say anything, I knew he also felt the same way. He still hadn't let go of my hand which he had taken after I told Fred about my encounter with Sirius Black. I had remained vague on my retelling of what happened, mostly because I didn't know what had happened.

Ron, who was still somewhat hysterical after his own encounter with Sirius Black had apparently woken up to the mass murderer standing over him with a raised knife in his hand. I almost found this peculiar after my own encounter with him. He had been looking at me with an almost awe-struck expression. I wanted to say that my reaction was because of the shock, but I hadn't been afraid at all.

The next morning was hardly better since none of the Gryffindor's had gotten any sleep and we all groggily headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Unsurprisingly, the rest of the school was anxious to hear the news and were all seemingly waiting for our arrival.

"Marnie!" I heard Cedric's frantic voice calling out for me.

Harry was still holding my hand. He had finally let go at some point last night as we all sat around the fire but had grabbed it again before we headed downstairs. I was worried that he was blaming himself for my run-in with Sirius Black since it was widely rumoured Harry was the reason Sirius had been breaking into the school.

I squeezed Harry's hand reassuringly before he reluctantly let go and was led away by Ron and Hermione towards the Gryffindor table.

"Hey," I answered, hearing the level of exhaustion in my voice.

"What happened last night? Are you alright?" he asked, rather frantically.

But I supposed Cedric had just learned of the news this morning whereas the rest of us had been coping with it all last night.

"Well, I actually saw him…" I started explaining before Cedric made a funny noise followed by a pained expression, I think he actually whimpered.

"Merlin, I am so sorry Marnie. I knew I should have carried you upstairs," he said rather desperately.

"You wouldn't have been able to," I replied more calmly.

"I'm fairly sure I can lift you," he responded coolly, probably thinking I was underestimating his strength.

"No, it's not that," I replied quickly. "The girl's staircase in Gryffindor is bewitched to prevent boys from walking up. It turns into a slide if anyone tries," I explained, taking his hand in the process to try and soothe his nerves.

It was plain how anxious he was. But I guess that was understandable after learning your girlfriend came face-to-face with Sirius Black.

"Ah, I suppose that was why Fred and George were so keen that I make the attempt," he continued, a small smile fighting to break through his pained expression.

"Cedric, nothing happened to me, I am absolutely fine," I said, wanting to erase his fear.

This however had the opposite effect.

"Marnie, I left you around midnight. A lot of people had already gone to bed, including your dorm mates. And Angelina said I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I shouldn't have left you," he said more desperately, the anxiety rising in his voice.

Cedric always had a fairly calm and collected personality. This blatant fear and anxiety was alarming, even more so than after we had faced the dementor last term.

"Ced, I'm fine. And even if I wasn't…" he grimaced and sank his head down towards the floor. "And even if I wasn't it would not be your fault. Trust me, I'm a magnet for trouble and I take full responsibility," I explained, bringing my hand to his chin.

I gently brought his head so that I could look him in the eyes.

"Then I better be more prepared, so I can actually save you next time," he answered more seriously.

"You want to save me?" I asked skeptically, a little taken aback by the specific words he had chosen.

"Of course," he replied with an air of returning confidence.

It now looked as if a fire had been set behind his caramel-coloured eyes. I could see him bringing both of his hands to the sides of my face which he used to bring my lips into his. Instantly, it seemed as if the entire school vanished, and I was standing in a temporary void with just Cedric. The heat filled my cheeks as I brought my hands up into his messy, brown hair.

"Oi, some of us are trying to eat here!" we were rudely interrupted by a cranky sounding Ron.

His own attempted murder did not suit him.

I sighed even though Cedric chuckled into my lips as he slowly pulled away.

"I've got my eyes on you," he said gently, sliding his thumb across my cheek before stepping back.

"As long as I get to keep you safe in return," I replied softly.

"I'm not going anywhere Mar," he said with a smile, already taking a few steps towards the Hufflepuff table.

I smiled and waved back to him before spinning around and pointedly glaring at Ron as I made my way to my own house table.

"Ronald Weasley, you are an enormous prat!" I said with a wave of fury.

"Marnie, we all agree that Ron is as graceless as a dung beetle. But, maybe today we give him a pass," George said with a half shrug.

I was mildly surprised that the twins seemed to be offering Ron a rare time pass for his boorishness, however I knew they were deeply concerned that he had recently been confronted with the sharp end of Sirius Black's knife. And now, his stupid pet rat was also missing.

I then decided to silently pile porridge into my bowl even though I had no intention in eating it. Instead I sat stewing in my own confused thoughts. I was only interrupted a while later when the morning post arrived. Today seemed like an unusually busy post-delivery, but then again, I'm sure news had already gotten out about the attack at Hogwarts and parents must be worried. As if on cue, a letter dropped in between Harry and I that had obviously been addressed by my dad.

"Not it!" I exclaimed, putting my finger on the tip of my nose.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes before obligingly taking the envelope from Caelum and opening it.

Harry muttered to himself as he read the letter, but unfortunately, I didn't think it said anything we hadn't already heard before. Dad had since stopped threatening to pull us out of school, probably because it seemed every few months Harry and/or I were being thrown into some kind of dangerous situation (not on purpose of course). Dad knew he had lost that argument long ago; we both loved Hogwarts too much.

I was surprised though when another letter arrived from one of the school-provided owls specifically addressed to me. I opened the envelope and read through the brief, messy scroll. Hagrid wanted me to visit and was offering to escort me this afternoon down to his hut. Instantly, I felt guilty for not going down to see him sooner. Hermione had been filling me in on the Buckbeak trial and I didn't think it was going very well with the defense case against Malfoy's father who was calling for the hippogriff's head.

By the time I headed down to meet Hagrid, everyone else was up in the dorms having a well-needed nap. The level of crankiness was at an all-time high, and I felt the need to escape.

"Hello Marnie!" Hagrid greeted with his big arms waving enthusiastically towards me.

I went over to meet him and followed him across the grounds, down to his hut. Once we arrived, Fang greeted me with his own friendly barks and slobbery smile. When I was sitting at the table, he laid his head on my lap while I waited for Hagrid to finish making some tea.

" _So, how yer doin' af'er las' nigh' Marnie?"_ Hagrid asked concernedly.

"Oh, I'm alright. Better than Ron anyways. But no one got hurt thankfully." I replied, accepting the tea and a cake-like pastry from Hagrid's outstretched hand. "How is everything with Buckbeak?" I asked, wanting to change the subject.

" _Oh, as goo' as ter be expected_ ," he said casually, obviously trying to cover up his anxiety.

"I'm sorry I haven't been down here sooner," I said rather guiltily.

 _"Don' yeh worry 'bout me. 'Ermione's bin helpin' me out,"_ he replied dismissively.

I could tell something else was on Hagrid's mind.

" _I wanted ter talk to yeh 'bout summat important,"_ Hagrid started nervously _._

I gave him a moment to collect his thoughts and was intrigued at what he had obviously asked me down here to talk about.

 _"Sirius Black, when I knew 'im. He wouldn't hav harmed a hair on yer mum's head. He was always so protective of 'er. I don' want yeh ter worry too much 'bout what happened,"_ Hagrid said sincerely, despite his known opinions of Sirius Black.

Hagrid had told me before that on other accounts he felt very betrayed by Sirius, especially since he had spoken to him hours before Sirius had been hauled off to Azkaban. But I knew there was truth to what Hagrid was saying, and that he believed it at least on some level. This also made me feel more conflicted about what had actually happened last night. Honestly, I agreed with Hagrid. These dreams I had been having about my mum and Sirius were confusing but led to the assumption that at one time they were very close, and that he always cared for her. Then, last night, the way he had looked at me. With some sort of desperation… and sorrow. It's like he had been staring into the eyes of an old friend.

Hagrid later escorted me back up to the castle and I wished him luck with the upcoming trial. He gave me a big hug before returning back out to the grounds.

The reality of my exhaustion sank in as I ascended the stairs up to the common room. All of my friends had known I was with Hagrid, so they left me alone when I climbed through the portrait hole and immediately headed for the dormitory. I didn't even take the time to change before I fell onto my bed and climbed under the covers. I don't even remember falling asleep, but it must have been instant.

I woke up to the feeling of something soft brushing across my face.

"Aster, what are you doing?" I mumbled and felt around for my fairy.

"Len, what are you mumbling about?" a voice startled me and caused my eyes to snap open.

"Fred?" I asked unconvincingly, since I obviously knew the sound of my best friend's voice and this one was unfamiliar.

But Fred, or George, were the only boys I ever woke up next to.

 _"Wait, he called me Len?"_ I thought to myself, frantically trying to figure out the situation I was in.

Then I realized I wasn't in my bed where I had remembered falling asleep, or even in a bed at all. I was sitting up and had my head on someone's shoulder. It looked like I was sitting out by the Black Lake in springtime and felt the sun beating down on my face.

"Wake-up sleepy head," I heard the voice coax before I immediately sat up and looked over to whom I had fallen asleep on.

"Sirius?" I asked surprisingly, but it came out more calmly in my mother's voice.

It didn't seem like she had been all that surprised to wake up on the arm of Sirius Black.

"You've been up late studying again," Sirius said pointedly, but gave a lazy grin which I knew was making my heart speed up.

"I want to be ready," I said firmly.

My mother sounded confident, but this made Sirius' smile fall.

"We aren't going to graduate for another year Lena. Why can't we enjoy what we have going on right now?" Sirius asked.

"I am enjoying it. But I want to make sure I will get to enjoy my future. I want to be able to have a family and watch them grow up in a world where I am not scared of Death Eaters. I am ready to join the fight and I will do everything I can to prepare before then," my mother continued.

I felt a pang of sadness as my mother said this. I guess she had gotten half her wish, but she never got to see it. It also sounded as if they had had this conversation, or maybe argument, in the past.

"Lena, I want to join the fight as much as you do. For once, I feel as if I have too much to lose and I know my family will be on the opposite side. But Hogwarts won't last forever, and I don't want the Death Eaters to be the reason I waste this time," Sirius said, trying to keep himself collected.

"Well, not everyone has the luxury of being at Hogwarts. Some people are standing vulnerable on the outside and summer is not too far off. We need to know how to protect ourselves," mum said more decisively.

"Merlin, he is all you talk about!" Sirius exclaimed, sliding away from where I was sitting.

He was obviously frustrated, and his gray eyes resembled those from his Azkaban poster for the first time.

"Well, I care about him. He's my friend, and yours. Just like I'm your friend," mum replied more calmly.

I remember dad telling me that mum was never one for arguing, she always went for reason.

"Well, friends can be replaced," Sirius said seething before getting up and storming away.

I woke up with a start and was relieved to see I was actually waking up in my own world. Aster was lying on my chest and the sun was already rising. I gently moved Aster off my chest and onto the pillow before I got out of bed.

Now I felt like I was the one who had been betrayed. Everything I had discovered about Sirius Black this year had led me to speculate what had actually happened and whether he was actually after Harry, or me. Hagrid had even warned me that he might not be a threat and when I had come face-to-face with him the other night, he had looked as if he was seeking forgiveness.

Well, there might be a chance he is sorry for what he did. But I was no longer willing to forgive him. If hurting my mother was that easy for him back then, I couldn't doubt he did it again with the Death Eaters. I had to remember he was the reason Harry didn't have his real parents and my mum didn't recognize me.

I went over to stand in front of the mirror once I had gotten dressed and looked into my own eyes to see what they revealed. My orange irises looked as if they were heated magma instead of their usual, shimmery bronze. As easily as I had seen Sirius' hatred in my dream, I saw my own. In that moment I made a vow to myself. Next time I came face-to-face with Sirius Black, I was going to kill him.


	42. The Grimm

It was difficult to feel excited about going to Hogsmeade, but everyone else was eager to get out of the castle. I headed down to the common room after assessing myself in the mirror and met up with my friends who were all taking advantage of the brief reprieve from OWL studying.

"Good morning sleepy head," Angelina greeted as I went down to sit beside her.

"Sleep well?" Alicia asked casually, continuing to read the book in her hand.

"Yea, I guess," I answered with a shrug.

"Hare?" Fred asked with his brow furrowed.

Him and George were seated in a loveseat to my right.

"Hmm?" I replied, already knowing he could sense something was wrong.

"Care to join us down to the kitchens? We haven't checked in with Posy in a while," he continued.

I knew he just wanted to get me alone, so I would be more willing to talk about what was bothering me.

"Sure," I replied, giving into the growling of my stomach instead of the stubborn voice in my head.

I followed the twins out of the common room and down towards the basements. We remained quiet all the way there until we were interrupted by the clatter and bustling of the house elves.

"Miss Marnee! You have come to see Posy with the Mr. Wheezies!" the little house elf shrieked in delight upon our arrival.

Despite my begrudging mood, I couldn't maintain my angry façade while Posy lead us towards our table. She was downright infectious with her joyfulness. Posy was busy setting up the table which kept my attention, so I didn't see the other house elf approach. I heard someone clear their voice before I turned around to see an elf surprisingly adorned in clothing rather than a ratty looking pillowcase which all the other house elves wore, including Posy.

"Excuse me Miss, I couldn't help overhear Posy call you Miss Marnie. Are you by any chance the sister of Harry Potter?" the house elf asked with his big eyes boring into my own.

It took me a moment to consider who this house elf was and how he had any connection to Harry.

"Oh, you're Dobby!" I exclaimed, giving him a polite smile.

"Yes Miss. Harry Potter always talks about his older sister Marnie. Harry Potter is very protective of you Miss," he continued in a jovial voice.

Dobby's excitement somehow rivaled that of Posy who was off putting together some breakfast.

"Well, Harry always talks so highly of you Dobby. I'm sorry it has taken me this long to meet you," I replied.

"So kind Marnie O'Hara is to Dobby. Just like Harry Potter you are. Dobby has seen the picture you drew for Posy," he said excitedly.

"Well, I can make one for you. I'll bring it next time I come down to the kitchens," I promised.

Dobby's eyes somehow grew even bigger and I could see tears start to swim in them.

"Too kind you are! Dobby is here for you anytime you need anything Marnie O'Hara!" he squeaked before Posy came back with the breakfast.

"Don't be bothering Miss Marnee and the Mr. Wheezies!" Posy chastised which only made me smile more.

I think Posy was worried that we might come and visit Dobby instead of her.

"This is delicious Posy!" I exclaimed enthusiastically which brought her attention back to us and made her giggle.

I kicked both Fred and George from under the table for them to join in.

"Mmmmm!" George said exaggeratingly, but still heaped enormous spoonful's into his mouth.

"Best porridge I've ever had!" Fred added, rubbing his hand over his stomach.

Posy continued to giggle while she coaxed Dobby back into the heart of the kitchen where several other house elves were working about.

"Don't be mean!" I chastised, shaking my head at them.

"Hey, we meant every word. We know Posy is the best," George said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, well… good," I stuttered, slightly taken aback by George's serious answer.

"So, Hare…" Fred said, changing the conversation.

I could feel my face turn red as I remembered my anger and what thoughts I had been having all morning.

"Did you have another dream?" Fred asked concernedly.

I could see George reflecting his brother's worry as they both stared at me, waiting for my answer. The only thing I could focus on was the hatred in Sirius Black's eyes as he stood up and left my mother. Insulting my father in the process; he probably was prejudiced against my father being a squib. I felt the loathing setting in.

"I want to kill him," I blurted out, feeling my nerves shaking.

"Marnie, what the bloody hell are you talking about?" George asked bluntly.

"I am talking about Sirius Black betraying my mother. I saw him! In my dreams, he betrayed her even when they were in school! And now I'm sure he's out trying to kill Harry or even me. So, I have to kill him before he hurts anyone else," I said with a shaky voice.

Despite the hatred I felt, I felt even more conflicted about the thoughts I was having.

"Hare…" Fred said more calmly than his brother.

He brought his hand to my chin and turned my head so that I was looking him in the eyes.

"Marnie," he said more evenly.

He never called me by my first name.

"For as long as I can remember I have hated all of them, Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov… and Sirius Black. At certain points I have probably pictured getting my revenge one hundred different ways. I can understand your anger. I know what it feels like when it flares up after being set off. And I can't even imagine how angry you must feel after having to watch him betray your mother in front of your eyes. But Marnie, this is not you. Don't let that anger control you. You are so brave and loyal and fierce, but that doesn't mean you should give into the anger. It means you can overcome it," Fred said calmly, never breaking his eye contact.

It was like someone had popped an inflated balloon from inside me and now I was floundering in all of my thoughts. Of course, I didn't ever want to have to kill anyone, but what was I supposed to do when there was a direct threat against my family who had already taken so much.

I took several minutes to catch my breath.

"Hare, can I ask you something?" we were back to using my nickname which was a good sign.

"Sure," I replied in a raspy sounding voice.

"Would you have told this to Cedric?" he asked frankly.

I couldn't read his expression, but his voice was devoid of any competitiveness or jealousy. I thought about his question for a while while I ate some spoonful's of porridge.

"I don't think so," I answered honestly.

"Why not?" he continued in that same tone.

"Well, it's different with him. I thought about if the roles were reversed. If he was coming to me and telling me that he was so angry that he was picturing attacking or wanting to kill someone, I would be too worried and would forbid from doing anything."

"But you told us," Fred said thoughtfully.

"Does that mean you would let us attack someone if you deemed it acceptable?" Fred added.

I thought about his question for a few more minutes while I finished my breakfast.

"I would be more willing to talk out the situation," I answered.

Fred just smiled and brought his bowl to his lips to scoop the last of his porridge into his mouth.

"What?" I asked skeptically.

I hadn't thought he would find my answer amusing, but he looked pretty satisfied.

"It's just good to know where I stand," he continued happily.

I just shook my head and continued on with the rest of the breakfast Posy had brought. By the time we headed back upstairs most of everyone was getting ready to go to Hogsmeade.

Angelina grabbed my arm when we were all ready to go and escorted me down the stairs with our group of friends.

"Will you hang out with us for a little while?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not meeting Cedric until we get down to Hogsmeade. And why don't we join you at The Three Broomsticks later on? You can all properly hang out with Ced," I replied, already feeling unsure about the plan.

Of course, Cedric had met my friends, and we had all hung out after the quidditch game, but that was the only other time my friends had all hung out together with Cedric and me. The girls were never shy when I was around him and would often walk with us between classes. I was thankful that Alicia and Katie had stopped ogling, but they still were friendly around him. The boys however, despite their changed attitudes towards Cedric, still kept their distance. Actually, the twins hardly ever walked with me between classes anymore and always waited until I was alone to hang out.

"That sounds brilliant!" Ange answered, still looping her arm through mine as we made our way towards the village.

We all parted ways once we arrived and I promised to meet up with them in an hour.

"Hey Mar," Cedric said gently as he approached me from where he had been standing and waiting.

"Hey," I replied, completely aware of how close Cedric was getting.

"What would you like to do?" he asked while still in our embrace; I could feel his breath on my ear.

"Well, I did promise my friends we would join them in The Three Broomsticks later on," I replied, turning my head to look up at him.

"That sounds good. I'm eager to get to know them better. And honestly, they can be a little intimidating sometimes," he answered candidly.

"How?" I asked, confused as to what he meant.

"They're just so protective of you," Cedric answered with a shrug.

"Oh, yea I guess they are," I replied meekly, a little embarrassed by the realization of how much attention I attracted from my friends.

"Want to take a walk beforehand?" he asked, changing the subject and extending his arm out for me.

I couldn't help but giggle and take his arm before he led us along the town's path.

"So, do they have any weaknesses I should know about?" he asked bemusedly. "You know, in case the entire Gryffindor quidditch team decides to gang up on me."

I laughed. "Well, honestly… not really," I replied slyly.

"Come on Mar, you have to give me something. Everyone has a weakness," he continued playfully.

I couldn't help but think of how true his words were.

"Alright, if you're not going to give me anything to work with. Maybe I could just settle for a kiss?" he suggested easily.

I turned my gaze up towards him and realized he had led us to the end of town.

"Smooth Ced," I replied but moved over so that I was standing in front of him.

I tilted my head up as he brought his own down to reach my lips. He moved his arms around me and pulled me closer to him, causing me to hitch my breath. I wrapped my own arms around his neck and reveled in how good he smelled. His lips were soft and even though I could feel the energy coursing from him, he was still going slow and gentle. My fingers made their way into his hair and I heard a soft moan escape his lips. I couldn't help but smile and he let out a soft laugh. He kept his lips pressed into mine and it was all I could do to try and get him closer to me, even though his body was already pressed up against mine. It was hard to be aware of any of our surroundings, but after several moments I started to hear a low, grumbling sort of sound coming from behind us.

Slowly, I parted myself from his lips but remained in his arms while I looked past where we were standing. In an instant, I was horrified. I tried to scream but my voice was somewhere farther down in my throat causing only a croak to escape.

"Mar, what is it?" Cedric asked softly, not yet realizing my horrified gaze.

I only pointed, still gaping at the beast. I could see Cedric growing more concerned, but he didn't even have time to ask since he was also now staring at the enormous black dog.

It was the Grimm.

The beast was snarling at us as it locked eyes with Cedric.

"Marnie, get behind me," Cedric whispered but the beast only appeared angrier when I went to move.

It then turned its gaze towards me, and I felt confused when I looked into its big, gray eyes. It held its stare, even when its head started to move to its right, as if indicating where it wanted me to step.

Hesitantly, I dropped my hands from Cedric's arm and went to stand where the beast was indicating. Somehow, this seemed to please the Grimm who was now just sitting in between us.

"Marnie!" I heard a familiar voice yell from down the street.

I looked up to see Ron… and Harry's head running towards us.

I was utterly shocked by the sight and the big dog seemed to as well since it froze and stopped to stare at the boys quickly approaching. I guess it didn't know how to process the sight if a disembodied head either. But, before the boys actually reached us, the Grimm got up and leaped off, away from the town.

"Marnie!" Harry yelled again and launched himself at me. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked hysterically.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, realizing Harry did not have permission to come into Hogsmeade.

"That's what you're worried about?" Ron continued, sounding as if he were on the verge of hyperventilation.

Harry gave him a pointed look and turned back to me in concern.

"Erm, well Fred and George gave me the map," he whispered, and I instantly felt a high level of rage soar inside me.

"You are being hunted by a mass murderer and the twins decide to give you the map, so you can leave unsupervised?" I asked, hearing my own hysteria.

"Marnie, you were almost attacked by the Grimm!" Harry bellowed, trying to make his sister see sense, and past his foolish decisions.

"Give it to me!" I demanded, holding out my hand.

"What?" Harry asked bewildered.

He had almost seen her be attacked by the beast who was supposed to be the symbol of death and she was still worried about his safety. Harry begrudgingly handed it over and Marnie stuffed it into her coat.

"Tell the guys I'm going back," Marnie announced and proceeded to brush past the younger boys back into town.

Harry turned to see Cedric still standing there looking terrified and confused.

"Look after her will you?" Harry said in a quiet, pleading voice.

This seemed to snap Cedric out of his own fear. He nodded assuredly and ran after Marnie.

"What the hell was that? We just saved Marnie and she's mad at us! She really needs to sort out her priorities!" Ron grumbled, still sounding fairly hysterical.

"She's in shock Ron," Harry retorted, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Harry had been fairly sure he and Marnie were the only ones who were able to see the beacon of death, but now Ron and Cedric had been witness to this animal which obviously existed.

Harry sighed, "I need to go talk to Remus."

"Are you crazy, isn't he your uncle or something? He's going to get you in trouble!" Ron tried to reason with his friend.

"Ron, Marnie is already in trouble and he might actually know what's going on," Harry replied flatly.

"Fine," Ron conceded, and the two boys went back into town.

XXX

 **So I just wanted to check in and say that I am really excited to be gearing up for the end of this year [POA]! I also wanted to admit that I was feeling slightly apprehensive about Marnie's 'murderous' thoughts. After 40 chapters, this is the first decision I have made that I doubted... but I think that is a pretty good track record and I have a purpose for changing course on Marnie's feelings towards Sirius. Also, it's out there and Marnie is setting down this path so there is no turning back!**

 **I also wanted to put out there that I am loving writing about Cedric and Marnie! I always found that Cedric had so much potential but was written off as a pretty boy with a fairly thick skull. Hopefully he is coming off as a more developed character as Marnie continues in her relationship.**


	43. Guilty Conscience

Fred and George burst into the common room an hour later. I could see their relief as soon as they spotted me sitting by the fire.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" Fred asked in a frustrated and anxious tone.

"Cedric brought me back," I replied.

"Ron told us you were almost eaten by a Grimm?!" Fred continued hysterically.

I rolled my eyes and put it in the back of my head to have a talk with Ron later on.

"Well, Cedric and I did see a huge, black dog, but it didn't harm us," I continued, still feeling numb about the whole thing.

I didn't mention the fact that it had seemed to be sentient enough to indicate that it wanted Cedric and I to stand apart. And who new what would have happened if Ron and Harry hadn't shown up.

"What was it?" George asked more graciously than his twin.

"Well, maybe it was a Grimm. I don't really know…" I drifted off, feeling my head start to overcrowd with thoughts.

"Marnie, I believe you that you saw something, obviously, but you honestly think it was a Grimm? That sounds a little mad doesn't it?" George asked with heavy skepticism.

"No, you know what sounds a little mad?" I asked, focusing my scattered thoughts on the parchment seemingly burning a hole in my pocket.

I pulled out the map and waved it in front of Fred and George. I watched as their expressions turned guilty.

"He is being hunted by a mass murderer! How could you give this to Harry?" I shouted, feeling the anger boil in my stomach.

"Well, so are you and you still go to Hogsmeade," Fred reasoned, with an edge in his voice.

"And you didn't even think to tell me beforehand, I'm your best friend and I didn't even know you were thinking of passing over the map!" I continued vehemently.

"Well, you are always so protective of Harry, we knew you would never agree but we saw that Harry had more of a need for it than us," Fred continued.

My face must have been entirely flushed, the anger felt like I was gearing up to explode.

"So now I'm Harry's sister before I'm your best friend. If you haven't noticed, you and George are twins and best friends from way before I ever came along, and we have managed pretty damn well on staying best friends. Looks like you still can't trust me enough. Well, piss off the both of you!" I shouted at both of them before storming up to my dormitory.

Thankfully, the girls still hadn't returned from Hogsmeade, so I had the entire room to myself. I threw myself onto my bed and pulled the blankets up over my head. I just wanted my thoughts to stop racing and for the anger to stop streaming tears down my face.

It was probably only thirty minutes later before I heard three sets of footsteps enter the dorm. I couldn't decipher their whispers as they went about the room and put their purchases away. However, I did sense when they were all standing around my bed.

"Ahem," I heard Angelina clear her throat to get my attention.

I just rolled over and waited for them to leave.

"Come on Marnie, we aren't going anywhere," Katie said firmly.

'Why are Gryffindor's so stubborn?" I retorted back at them.

"I don't know hunn, but you are the most stubborn lion of them all," Ange replied as she pulled back my curtains and climbed onto my bed.

The other two quickly joined her which left me no choice but to surface from my blanket burrow.

"We heard you had a pretty horrible day," Alicia started, looking at me with concern.

"I don't really want to talk about it," I responded, still feeling exhausted.

"That's alright, from everyone downstairs, we got a pretty descriptive lowdown," Ange replied.

"Who's downstairs?" I asked intently.

"Well the twins are a mess, going on about how they fucked up. And then there are Harry and Ron. Ron is brooding, which is pretty typical when he does something wrong and Harry is trying to discuss a plan with the twins about coaxing you out of here," all three of the girls rolled their eyes at this.

"Ooh!" Alicia squealed which made me jump. "And that handsome boy of yours is sitting outside the common room. He looks the least worried, but he is obviously concerned. He gave us the clearest explanation and said he just wants to make sure you are safe."

I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face. This also loosened my stomach which had been roiling in knots.

"The rest of those boys are idiots," Katie said and just shook her head.

"They've been prattling on and scheming ways to get you to come downstairs. We just came back and told them to stop wasting their time. As if they didn't think to ask your dormmates who are also your best mates," Angelina stated in mock insult.

"I still don't want to go downstairs," I replied.

"We don't blame you," Katie said honestly. "They all need to cool off down there."

"That's why we brought back these!" Alicia said, pointing at the four butterbeers which I now noticed were sitting over near her bed.

"We figured something was up after you didn't show. We weren't with the twins when Ron told them what happened," they explained.

I just smiled and graciously accepted the warm beverage from Leesh.

"Can you guys do me a favour though?" I asked.

"Of course," they all replied kindly.

"Can you go convince Cedric that I'm alright and will just be staying in for the night. I would go see him myself, but I don't want to have to talk to any of the other boys in my life," I said.

"I'll go!" Ange eagerly answered. "I know the poor bloke still feels guilty about that whole Sirius Black incident after I had told him to keep you safe," she admitted rather sheepishly.

"Ange!" I groaned at her.

"Well, I did tell him to watch out for you," she replied matter-of-factly.

"No wonder he's intimidated by you guys," I muttered.

"He is?" Ange asked slyly.

"Just go tell him please!" I replied, throwing my pillow at her.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Ange said, running away from my pillow arsenal and out the door.

XXX

That night I still had trouble sleeping and ended up looking over the map which I still had in my possession. It had started off with me double checking that Cedric wasn't still standing guard at the entrance of the Gryffindor common room, but thankfully he had listened to Angelina.

Plus, I'm sure the security trolls wouldn't have let him stay there past curfew.

I looked over his name indicating he was probably asleep in his Hufflepuff dormitory. He hadn't moved for over an hour and I could see his other dormmates' names adjacent to his.

I also looked over my friends who were all in their dorms; mostly everybody in the castle was asleep. Aside from some teachers, including Remus, doing their rounds, no one else was walking about the castle. Unfortunately, this was my only form of entertainment and I still wasn't feeling tired.

I flipped over to the next section of the map and was somewhat surprised to see some fast-moving footsteps along the Charms corridor.

 _Peter Pettigrew._

I had to cover my mouth to stifle my gasp.

Of course, I knew all about Peter, Remus' childhood friend who had also befriended my parents. Apparently, he was a quiet fellow and had been bullied a lot in school.

He was also dead.

I whipped off my covers before booking it to the door and out of the Gryffindor Tower. I followed the familiar path towards Remus' name and found him returning from his rounds in the Defense hallway.

"Marnie?" he asked surprisingly when he saw me turn the corner into the corridor.

"Remus! I have to show you something!" I replied urgently, trying to catch my breath.

Without saying anything, Remus took my arm and led me to his office chambers. He ended up guiding me towards a comfy looking chair and went to make some tea. Moments later, he returned with two steaming cups and sat across from me expectantly. He was waiting for me to speak.

"Well, I know I've never told you or dad…" I started, putting the map between us on a small table.

"I know what the map does," he said evenly.

I couldn't decipher what Remus was feeling but was very surprised to hear that he already knew of the map.

"Oh," I replied, trying to recollect my thoughts. "Well, I was looking over it tonight…" I started again.

"Marnie, don't you think a map, that could have been easily left about or used to our advantage, should have been brought forward once Sirius Black first breached the castle?" Remus asked reproachfully.

"Erm…" I paused, feeling my cheeks start to burn in embarrassment and regret.

Remus sighed and looked at me thoughtfully. "What was it you saw?"

It was my turn to sigh and try and collect my thoughts again.

"Peter Pettigrew," I whispered, not able to make myself any louder.

There was a heavy silence between us.

"Marnie," Remus paused. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes."

There were several more, long minutes of silence.

"You know, Harry came and talked to me today," Remus said, surprisingly changing the topic.

I raised my eyebrows at him and suddenly realized what that meant.

I could see the worry etched onto Remus' face.

"Marnie… I have to ask that you don't ever leave the castle alone again," he said solemnly, and without room for objection.

"Well, I wasn't alone. And the security is already pretty tight," I replied.

I didn't understand Remus' sudden worry. He was usually more forgiving than my father when it came to any perceived danger. Plus, the big dog hadn't really done anything to us. Maybe Harry had used Ron's story and blown it out of proportion.

"Uncle…" I started, wanting to placate his fear.

"Marnie, you can't afford to be reckless. Harry is bad enough, just like James he is. Trust me, I gave him just as much warning as I am giving you. But, I am disappointed you didn't turn the map in sooner. Your mother sacrificed herself and was betrayed by this man. Wandering around and putting yourself in danger would be a poor way of honouring her sacrifice," he finished.

My stomach had returned to roiling knots and it felt like my chest was also constricting. I could never live with myself if I dishonoured my mother in any way.

Remus escorted me back to the tower shortly after and confiscated the map. We hadn't talked about Peter after I had told him what I'd seen, but I think Remus thought I was seeing things after coming face-to-face with a Grimm. He also seemed very weary of this large beast and was adamant that I don't leave the castle walls unescorted. I felt very uneasy about the whole thing after I had re-entered the Gryffindor common room and Remus returned to his chambers. I had a suspicion that my uncle wasn't telling me something.

XXX

The next morning, I didn't have any alternative than to face the guys. The twins were already waiting for me when I went down early, and surprisingly, so were Harry and Ron.

I only sighed and let each other them hug me, apologize, and then re-iterate how each of them only wanted to keep me safe. I felt too tired to argue and still felt the nagging worry from my encounter with Remus the previous night.

The bad feeling only worsened when Hermione received a letter over breakfast from Hagrid, saying that Buckbeak had been sentenced to death. My gut was clenching with guilt over my betrayal to everyone. First, I had taken my mother's own sacrifice for granted, then I hadn't even thought of handing over the map to aid in the apprehension of that bastard Black and now I was regretting not helping out with Buckbeak's trial or being there for Hagrid in his time of need. Hagrid had always been there for me when I needed someone, and I had been too caught up in my OWL homework and everything else to go down and help him. Suddenly, I lost my appetite.

The next week passed in a nervous and overwhelmed state. I would stay in the library from the time I woke up until the few minutes before curfew. Cedric, Harry and my friends would visit me and usually study as well since most of us had our OWL exams coming up. It should have been comforting to have them there, but I felt as if I were in my own glass orb and the others were on the outer side, just out of reach. I still felt immensely guilty and had since spared an afternoon to visit Hagrid. He had thanked me from coming down and said it helped to be around friends, but I did not feel abated for my guilt.

The only person who I did feel was in the same world as me was Hermione. We would often walk to the library together in the early hours of the morning and would sit with each other until one of us had class, and then we would return to the dormitory at night together. Somehow, she seemed even more busy and stressed than I did, and was taking an inordinate number of classes. I had asked her about it once, but she only waved me off and I decided she would tell me if she felt the need.

XXX

"Good morning Marnie," a rather frazzled looking Hermione greeted me.

I had gotten to the library earlier than usual since I had dreamt I forgot the entire unit on memory charms. I refused to be one of the students who had a breakdown in the middle of the Great Hall; so far there had only been two.

"I had a run-in with Malfoy," she said rather smugly.

"What happened?" I asked worriedly, knowing full-well that Malfoy was just as bad as Flint.

I also knew the Slytherins had been surlier and more aggressive than usual, with the upcoming quidditch finals. The game was set for tomorrow and it was another reason I had snuck off to the library early, I was admittedly tired of hearing non-stop quidditch strategies and facts.

"Oh, nothing really. I just punched him in the nose for being rude," she said as non-chalantly as she could.

I whipped my head up at her and could see her smug grin.

"That's brilliant! Of course, he deserves it," I replied enthusiastically.

"I am rather proud of myself, plus Harry and Ron got a kick out of it," Hermione said before bringing out an alarming number of books from her rucksack.

"Good morning my lovely girl," I heard a voice say from behind me only moments later.

It was almost like his voice was made of honey with how sweet and warm he sounded.

I turned around and knew I was blushing at Cedric while he came up and planted a kiss on my forehead.

"Hey Ced," I answered sweetly and stood up to kiss his cheek.

I lingered for a moment, but grudgingly pulled away since I didn't want to make Hermione uncomfortable.

"Good morning Hermione," Cedric said politely, already pulling over his own seat to join our study session.

"Hi Cedric," she replied with a friendly smile.

Hermione was not nearly as bad as my other girl friends who would always badger me about Cedric being so sweet and caring whenever he was around. I did however catch the smug look Hermione gave me before she ducked behind her book.

Cedric and I followed suit, not feeling the ability to have a long conversation. I was always panicking about something I thought I had forgotten, and Hermione was taking way more classes than should be possible. I think Cedric felt surer of himself and was more here for my benefit. Or maybe his own since he probably wouldn't ever see me if he didn't come and track me down.

We continued like this throughout the morning, only exchanging a few words when one of us needed clarification on something.

"Hey Marnie," I heard Harry say which caused me to look up from my book on flobberworms.

"Hey Harry. Ron," I acknowledged as they stood across from me.

I assumed they had come to join our study group and immediately returned to my book.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked after several moments of feeing them staring in my general direction.

"Erm- I was wondering if I could have a word?" he said timidly.

I knew he was still feeling guilty about the other day regarding Hogsmeade even though we had already buried the hatchet.

I obligingly got up and followed him to an empty row, leaving Ron behind.

"So, I wanted to tell you…" he paused. "I told Remus about the Grimm."

"I know," I said simply.

My guilt started to churn my stomach as I remembered what he had told me about my mother's sacrifice.

"Oh. Well, I just wanted to warn you and tell you that I did what I thought was best…" he looked as if he was preparing for my anger.

"I know you did," I answered truthfully. "He took the map though."

"Oh," was all Harry could say.

I didn't really want to talk about my guilt or re-hash my previous anger, so I just hugged him and returned to my seat. Harry and Ron left the library soon after and I didn't see anyone else until dinner. Cedric had to pry me away from my books when he told me he could hear my stomach from across the table.

"I'll come and escort you to the big game tomorrow?" Cedric asked with a big grin in his face.

I knew he was almost as excited as the rest of my friends who would actually be playing in the game tomorrow.

"Of course!" I replied happily.

He wrapped me in his arms before kissing me softly on the cheek. I wrapped my own arms around him, trying to keep the embrace for as long as possible before he let go and returned headed over towards the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall. I knew I was absolutely smitten with this boy and wanted to savour every minute with him. With a mass murderer and a Grimm running about, one never knew how much time there actually was.


	44. Love and Pain

**So I want to reassure everyone that I will not give up on this story. I realize my updates are farther in between but I still have a plan and am dedicated to see this through. There is still a long way to go so I hope everyone will stick with me and be patient.**

 **Also, I am in love with this chapter and have been gearing up for this for a while. I hope it doesn't disappoint and know that I already have a template made for the next chapter. My upcoming schedule is supposedly more open so hopefully this will give me more time to write.**

 **I can't thank everyone enough for reading my story and following Marnie along as she navigates through her life at Hogwarts.**

 **Until next time!**

 **XXXX**

"Marnie, wake-up!" Alicia hollered as I was unceremoniously whacked with a pillow.

"Oi, I am awake!" I retorted, aiming the pillow back in retribution.

But it was gameday and I was up against a chaser; I had no chance of hitting any of them. I also knew everyone was pretty high strung since they were playing in the final game of the season and had to win against Slytherin by 210 points or more. Oliver Wood had been a nutter all week and the stress was wearing down on my friends.

I hopped out of bed and tried to remain as non-descript as possible to avoid any further targeting from my friends. I knew they were just nervous and wanted to make sure I was awake to escort them everywhere. Slytherin had been outright aggressive against the Gryffindor players over the past couple weeks, and Oliver had since made it a rule that none of the players go anywhere unaccompanied.

I was ready ten minutes later with my damp hair put up in a loose bun. By this point Angelina and the other two weren't talking as we walked down single file to the common room where the other players were already assembled. Oliver was mumbling to himself and seemed to be blurting out random tactics which went widely ignored by the boys who had probably been hearing it all morning. I noticed the twins defensively standing around Harry who looked utterly pale and almost sick. There was a lot of pressure riding on him for when he could catch the snitch.

"Shall we go downstairs?" Ange asked, breaking the silence amongst the team.

Oliver gave an affirmative nod which caused the rest of the team to assemble in a tight formation as they left out the portrait hole.

"Alright Harry?" I asked as I had made my way into the inner circle of the team where Harry was.

He only shrugged which caused me to put my arm reassuringly over his shoulder. I knew nothing I could say would make him feel any better.

As we entered the Great Hall it was if someone had muted the volume. Conversations were paused as the entire school turned to look at my friends with an array of nervous expressions and jovial excitement. It was only the Slytherins who continued with their murmured discussions and withering looks. I swear some of them even hissed.

"Excited for the big game?" I heard Cedric ask from behind me.

He must have seen me enter with the rest of the team.

"Have a seat Ced, and don't mind everyone else. They have their game faces on," I replied as I shuffled over to make room for Cedric to sit down.

I noticed my friends did not have their usual grins as Cedric sat down beside me, but I knew their competitiveness on game day probably swayed their perception from mate's boyfriend to Hufflepuff rival. At least they were all being steely, so I knew they wouldn't say anything.

"Have a good sleep Marnie?" Cedric asked politely, not phased by the cold reception from my peers.

I thought back to the dream I had been having on repeat about Sirius Black betraying my mother and stifled my look of disgust. I hadn't yet confided in Cedric about my frequenting nightmares and I didn't want to start worrying him now.

"It was alright," I answered.

Fred looked over towards Marnie and was surprised and amused that it seemed she wasn't telling Pretty Boy about her nightmares. He was glad that she didn't seem to have this inclination to protect Fred from her secrets much like she was doing with Cedric.

"Should we go out and get a good seat?" Cedric asked after he had finished his plate of eggs.

"Sounds great," I answered approvingly.

I knew the rest of the school would be anxious to get out to the stands for this particular game and I wanted to make sure we got a good seat.

I hugged each of my friends, including Oliver, before heading out to the pitch with Cedric. I knew Hermione and Ron were also heading out but were keeping a slight distance, probably at Hermione's behest. I would really have to do something nice for her after everything she has been doing and for always having my back.

We made it out before most of the school and took some seats in the second row. Cedric had refused to allow me front row seats after my big fall during the Hufflepuff/ Gryffindor match. I couldn't argue his point after having spent an entire weekend in the hospital wing. Although, I did hope the dementors wouldn't make an appearance.

We sat on the stands for about ten minutes before we saw the two teams file out onto the field. The reception from the crowd was enormous as the entire school started to shout and applaud. Cedric and I rose to our feet as we hollered along with the crowd and eagerly awaited the start of the game.

Once everyone was in the air, it didn't take long for the plays to get dirty. I rose to my feet again when I saw Angelina get mowed over by Flint. Thankfully she was able to shake it off and Fred brought his own justice by tossing his beater's bat at Flint's back. This brought a grin to my face.

But as the game went on, I began to watch it from the gaps between my fingers. I had to cover my eyes as each of my friends were attacked by the Slytherins. I had to admit though, the Gryffindors were doing all they could to fight back, making the game ruthless.

All eyes were on the scoreboard as most of the school waited for Gryffindor to be up sixty points. Lee's commentary was completely biased and was downright disgusted with all the illegal plays made by the Slytherin team. Wood had recently been hit by two simultaneous bludgers which had left him momentarily immobilised.

Gryffindor, along with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were all screaming now just as Alicia scored Gryffindor's seventh goal. Gryffindor was now up by sixty points.

In a flurry of movement, Harry soared upright towards the shimmering snitch. Diabolically, everyone also watched as Malfoy leapt forward to grab onto Harry's broom.

"That's an outrage!" Cedric shouted from beside me.

I clenched my hand around his as I waited anxiously to see who would catch the snitch. The Slytherin beaters sent both bludgers towards Harry which he expertly dodged before diving down towards the ground. Moments later Harry wrapped his hand around the golden snitch and soon dismounted from his broom. Gryffindor had won the match!

XXX

That night Gryffindor had an outrageous party in their common room. Copious amounts of fire whisky and butterbeer had been shared amongst the students and I was now being spun on the makeshift dance floor by Cedric. All the other players were close by, participating in their own celebratory dance. Lee was paired with Katie, who were now at least not denying their attraction for one another, Angelina was with George, which made me raise an eyebrow in their direction. They had just waved me off, but I knew I would have to revisit that conversation when I was sober. Fred and Leesh were also dancing, but only for the fast songs and it didn't seem as intimate as the rest of us. I knew they only regarded themselves as friends.

I loved the feeling of Cedric's arms around me. I always felt safe when I was around him, and he always made it so easy. He was respectful of everything and seemed to wait for me to make my own decisions about our relationship.

I tightened my grip around his neck and brought my lips to his ear.

"Can we get some fresh air?" I asked with as much charm as I could muster.

Since the game had been early, curfew was still a few hours away.

Cedric nodded and took my hand to lead me out of the common room.

"Any place you want to go?" he asked courteously.

He still had his hand clasped over mine.

"Yup," was all I answered as I started leading him towards the Divination tower. I knew no one ever went there outside of class times since it wasn't close to any dormitories and not many students liked running into Professor Trelawney on their days off. It took us several minutes to get to the swirling staircase where I had been leading Cedric. But, once we were at the base, I stopped abruptly, causing Cedric to bump into me.

"You okay Mar?" he asked concernedly.

I had wanted to be alluring and come off as expert at this sort of thing. But the reality was that I was under the influence of alcohol and had zero experience flirting with boys. Even though Cedric and I had been dating since September and had been friends for a year before that, I felt we hadn't had a courtship where I had been all that flirtatious.

Cedric was looking at me with concern and I didn't want to mess this up anymore than I already had so instead I inched forward and met my lips with his. Instantly, it felt like I was melting.

I felt his hands squeeze on my shoulders before he moved back, as if it was a struggle for him to detach his lips from mine.

"Marnie, what are you doing?" he asked more playfully.

"Snogging my boyfriend," I replied smartly.

He grinned and continued to look into my eyes.

"Merlin, you are so beautiful Marnie," he whispered gently.

I started to inch back closer and I could hear the struggle in his sigh.

"Mar, I don't want to take advantage of you. I know you've drank tonight," he said more definitively.

I opened my eyes fully to see his caramel ones looking flustered against his willpower.

I straightened my shoulders and met his eyes with a challenge gleaming from them.

"My name is Marnie O'Hara. I was sorted into Gryffindor five years ago even though the hat thought about putting me into Hufflepuff. My brother and best mates just won the Quidditch cup against Slytherin by ten points and I want to celebrate by snogging my boyfriend, Cedric Diggory," I finished my speech which hopefully would convince Cedric I knew what I was doing; and what I wanted.

His smile met his eyes as he started to laugh. He brought his hand up to my face and ran his thumb across my cheek. Shivers ran up my spine and butterflies flew rampantly in my stomach.

"I love you Marnie O'Hara," he whispered, causing my breath to catch.

I continued to look into his caramel eyes which were swirling with happiness.

"I love you too Cedric Diggory," I happily replied before reaching up and crushing his lips into mine.

XXX

I had unsuccessfully tried to keep my make-out session from my friends, but they had all been waiting up for me and squealed when they got me to confess. The boys had taken it less jovially, but none of them had said anything negative which I took as a win. It was nice to think that the twins respected my relationship enough to know how seriously it meant to me, even if they didn't approve of whom it was with.

But the excitement from Cedric's proclamation and Gryffindor's win were immediately replaced by the overwhelming amount of homework and examination preparation. Each exam was gruelling in its own way. Potions had us brew a wolfsbane potion which was extremely difficult and highly suspicious. I knew that Professor Snape and Remus did not particularly get along and was worried Snape would say something so that Remus would have to stop teaching. On the other hand, the exams were given and supervised by ministry officials, so Snape couldn't have anything to do with the exam's content.

For Defense, we had to individually face our boggarts again plus transcribe an entire paragraph written in Mermish. History of Magic required a full account of the Troll wars whereas Astronomy required a detailed star map of a February sky; which was extraordinarily difficult given it was May. I didn't fret too much about Herbology since we were required to make a Restorative Draught from matured mandrakes as well as Care of Magical Creatures where we had to properly groom a unicorn's foal; thankfully we didn't have to do anything else with flobberworms. Muggle studies was also a breeze where we had to explain how to use a kettle to properly make tea and Charms where we had to disarm the instructor. Surprisingly, I did it on the second attempt. The ministry official had been very impressed.

The only exam I truly struggled with was Divination where I was supposed to describe and interpret the swirling colours in my crystal ball. I couldn't help remembering how Cedric had somehow interpreted the colours I had foreseen for him earlier on in the year, something about eternal youth and his soul bonding with another. I tried to remember what Cedric had prophesized for me and rambled on about somehow being two people and being loyal. The exam supervisor didn't look that impressed.

By the end I was exhausted but relieved that my OWLs were over. I had promised that once I finished, I would go debrief with Remus since he had wanted to know how well I did. I knocked on his door and heard his footsteps approaching. He gave me a tired smile once he opened the door and beckoned me into his office.

I sat down in my normal chair and noticed that the map was placed out on the table. He must have been looking for any traces of Sirius Black. When he had confiscated it, Remus had stated it would probably be useful for surveying the school.

I waited for Remus to come back with the tea he was making and scanned my gaze over the map. I smiled when I noticed Ron, Hermione and Harry walking together. I knew they had had some stressful times together this year, especially with Hermione taking all her classes.

Then I saw his name…

 _Peter Pettigrew._

I jumped out of my seat and almost caused Remus to spill the tea.

"Marnie, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

I just pointed at the name, unable to say anything else. I heard the cups crash onto the floor as Remus noticed the name as well.

"That's impossible," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Remus, what does this mean?" I asked anxiously.

"The map doesn't lie," was all he said in an even tone.

"Oh Merlin," I said, even more anxious as I moved my finger over to another approaching name.

 _Sirius Black._

And of course, _Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger_ were in the middle of it all.

Remus abruptly straightened and was already headed towards the door. I immediately followed, neither of us saying anything. Remus knew he could never convince me to stay and there was no time to waste. Harry was in danger.

By this time, it was almost nightfall as Remus led us towards the Whomping Willow. He was carrying the map in his hands and brazenly approached the tree.

Before I could object, I saw him pick up a stick and tap a particular knot on the roots which somehow immobilized the otherwise aggressive tree. I continued to follow him down an eerie, underground tunnel with my wand already up. He wouldn't get away this time.

The farther we went down the tunnel, the louder the shouts became. By this point Remus and I were running and came into an old, creaky house.

" _The Shrieking Shack!"_ I thought to myself as I mapped where we must have gone in my head.

We ran up the stairs, following the voices from Harry, Ron and Hermione. I had my wand ready, trying to anticipate any horrors we would encounter behind the door. Once I was inside, I spotted Ron in a bad way, probably with a broken leg. Hermione was standing beside him protectively while Harry squared off against a bedraggled looking man, Sirius Black.

"Expelliarmus," I heard Remus say a moment after we entered the room.

I was expecting him to square off against Sirius as well, but frighteningly he had disarmed Harry.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, outraged at the man who I called my uncle.

He had been helping to raise me and Harry for years, and now he was standing beside the traitor who had a wand raised towards Harry.

"Marnie," Remus said gently but I was beyond consoling.

"Marnie?" Sirius turned and looked at me with surprise.

Obviously, he hadn't seen me follow Remus into the room.

The look on his face was filled with emotion but I didn't have time to interpret any of it.

" _Crucio,"_ I sobbed as the hatred I had felt all my life bubbled over.

"Marnie!" Remus said as he stared at me in utter shock.

I locked eyes with Sirius and waited for his own pain to take over, but he remained still with very sad eyes.

"Marnie, stop!" I heard Remus say but I easily blocked him out after being frustrated by his own actions.

How could he join forces with the man who killed James and had his wand pointed at Harry?

"You have to mean it," Sirius said sadly, not at all angry with the anguished girl.

Sirius continued to look at how angry and betrayed Lena's daughter looked. Just as Lena had when he had walked away from her that one day in their sixth year. Just as she had when she had learned the truth on the day James and Lily had died.

"I do mean it!" I cried, feeling the tears flow down my face.

Suddenly, I felt a hand clasp my arm and was then coaxed out of my intent to cast an unforgiveable curse.

Harry looked at me with sad eyes, took my hand, but returned his gaze to Sirius and Remus. In our moment of hesitation, I was disarmed by Remus causing me to look upon the men with a heightened fury.

"How dare you!" I screamed, boldly taking a step towards the mass murderer.

"Lena," he said softly.

"DON'T YOU DARE USE MY MOTHER'S NAME IN FRONT OF ME!" I bellowed, disgusted that her name had crossed his lips.

"Marnie," Remus said more confidently. "You don't understand, we need to explain."

"That you betrayed us?!" I spat back at him.

I saw him flinch at my accusation, but I continued to bore my gaze into him.

"Marnie, we saw his name on the map," he tried again, causing me to think back to the moment before we had run out of the castle.

"But it can't be true," I replied, hesitant in my response.

"The map doesn't lie!" he reiterated.

"The Marauder's Map?" Harry cut in.

"Yes, I helped write it. I know it has to be true," he explained while Harry's and my jaw dropped.

I had had that map for five years and had never understood the obvious nicknames that had appeared under the title. Then I remembered my dream where my mother had used those names; Moony… and Padfoot.

"Padfoot?" I whispered quietly, trying to decipher everything in my head.

"Yes," Sirius replied softly, but I ignored his answer.

I still refused to look at him.

"Prongs and Wormtail?" I asked, remembering the other names on the map.

"Wormtail, a rat," Remus replied more vehemently.

"You were all animagi?" Harry asked bewildered.

"Yes, Peter, Sirius and James became animagi when they found out I was a-" Remus paused.

"A werewolf," Hermione interjected.

I knew Harry hadn't told either Ron or Hermione about this, we had both kept Remus' secret.

"You are the cleverest witch of your age. I assume it was Snape's essay," Remus replied while Hermione nodded.

"Snape," Sirius spat which inadvertently caused me to move my gaze towards him.

"Yes, he's a professor at the school," Hermione continued.

"Indeed, I am," a silky voice came from the doorway.

I hadn't heard his arrival, but our Potion's master stood there with a righteous looking expression before disarming Remus and Sirius.

"I tried to warn Professor Dumbledore you weren't to be trusted," Snape sneered at Remus.

My anger roiled up as I hated the way Snape was addressing Remus, even if I was mad at him myself.

"Snape, we don't have time for this!" Sirius bellowed impatiently.

Obviously, the arrival of our Potions master and their once school-boy nemesis was hardly a hinderance to whatever Sirius had planned.

Snape turned sharply towards Sirius and aimed his wand, so it was touching Sirius' chest.

"Give me a reason, I beg of you. I will end this now," Snape said viciously.

All the facts I had heard in the last five minutes, plus my dreams and Hagrid's heed of Sirius all came rushing back and I was suddenly conflicted about the situation.

Ron was whimpering in the corner, no doubt from his broken leg. I reflexively turned to look at him and instead noticed that Hermione's wand was sticking out of her back pocket. I gently grabbed for it and put my finger to my lips when she noticed my movement. She gave me a tiny nod before I turned the wand towards my professor and the mass murderer.

"Stupefy!" I shouted.

Instantly, Snape was knocked out at Sirius's feet.

"Marnie!" Hermione said in a horrified voice.

I continued to hold her wand towards Sirius.

"You have one minute to confirm what I already think it true," I said evenly.

Sirius met my gaze with a flash of something behind his eyes but covered it immediately before going over towards Ron.

My wand followed him as he made his way over and Ron started to whimper again.

"Give him your rat Ron," I said insistently, having worked out the bizarre scenario in my head.

"Marnie, what are you talking about?!" Ron said hysterically.

"Just do it," I said, leaving no room for negotiation.

Ron reluctantly took the rat out of his pocket and handed the squirming rodent over to Sirius. Sirius grabbed the rat while Remus also held his wand to the animal.

"Marnie, this man killed my parents," Harry said angrily from beside me as my gaze followed Sirius.

"I'm not so sure anymore," I replied.

"Marnie, he betrayed your mother!" Harry insisted.

Remus and Sirius cast a spell simultaneously and at the end, the once tiny rat was now a chubby looking man.

"No Harry, he did."


	45. Escape

I could still hear Ron whimpering in the corner as he watched his once pet rat transform into a middle-aged man. It was hard to recognize him from the picture that sat on the mantel back at the cottage. He was much more straggly and feeble looking now.

"Remus. Sirius!" Peter said almost jovially as he came face-to-face with his once best friends.

It was sickening to hear the fear in his voice.

"Harry," I said very solemnly.

Harry kept staring at Peter Pettigrew, but I knew he was listening.

"This is the man who took our parents from us," I continued seething.

At the sound of my voice the rat-man turned around and scampered closer; much like a rodent.

"You… you must be Lena's daughter. And… and Harry… you look so much like James," he squeaked, making me recoil back in disgust.

I raised Hermione's wand, so it was almost pointed at his nose. He looked at it while I saw the nervous sweat drip down his neck.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" Sirius howled as he and Remus took Peter by the arms and threw him against the back wall.

"Don't you dare bring Lena and James up in front of them! You betrayed your best friends and they have suffered the consequences," Sirius said in an angry and hurt tone.

It dawned on me then that Sirius had known this secret for twelve years whereas the rest of us were only just finding out now. That must have been a heavy burden that could have cost anyone their sanity. But looking at Sirius now, all I could see was the deep hurt that was driving him for revenge.

I turned to look at Harry who had a conflicted look on his face. I knew he was struggling to believe in what I was saying about Sirius and what Sirius was saying himself.

Hermione had even piped up to ask why Peter hadn't tried to kill Harry before if he had been sleeping in the same dorm as him for three years.

But I already knew the reason.

"He is a coward Hermione," I said evenly. "An insult to the title of Gryffindor and a follower to those more powerful than him."

"Marnie, you believe me?" Sirius asked in a quiet voice.

I looked into his sad eyes and saw only the truth and anguish behind them.

"You had the opportunity to kill me in Hogsmeade and didn't. You had the chance to kill Harry that night when you broke into the castle. I saw it in your eyes then and I see it now. I believe in your innocence even if you were cruel to my mother in school," I finished and watched him flinch.

The pained look on his face told me I didn't have the full story but there wasn't time to discuss matters further.

Remus and Sirius had their wands pointed at Peter for the final blow and I inwardly awaited it. This darkness that I had been carrying for Sirius was now projecting tenfold onto Peter. But just as I wanted the life of my mother's betrayer to end, I heard Fred's words in the back of my mind. I heard him saying that seeking revenge is not an act of bravery. Bravery is overcoming the hate to do what is right.

But before I could say anything Harry stepped forward.

"We bring him to the school so the dementors can take him away to Azkaban," Harry said firmly.

I knew he now believed Sirius and was wanting to do the right thing.

"But he killed your parents," Sirius said a little desperately.

"And it would be a poor repayment for my parents if their best friends became murderers," Harry continued.

"Marnie?" Remus asked, looking at me with a sullen expression.

I nodded and took Harry's hand in support.

Remus then tied Peter up and shackled him between himself and Ron who had surprisingly volunteered.

Remus also raised a still frozen Snape with the hovering charm and lead him out of the tunnel back towards the school.

Remus had since returned my wand which had caused me to give back Hermione's. We were all walking in single file and I had my eyes set on Peter to make sure he didn't escape. The agreement was that if he went to transform, we would kill him.

I couldn't help looking over at Sirius and catching glimpses of the man who I had hated all my life. It felt as if waves of guilt were washing over my body realizing he had wasted twelve years of his life away from his family; our family.

He was quietly chatting with Harry and I was too distracted to tell what they were talking about.

It wasn't until we came out to the clearing that Harry took my hand with a big grin on his face.

"Marnie, once we prove Sirius is innocent, he can actually be my god-father!" he said excitedly.

Obviously, this had been what the two of them had been talking about.

"No, you can't take Harry away from me!" I said rather protectively and selfishly.

I had waited so many years to have Harry back in my life and I didn't want to have to give up living with him and having him a part of our home.

"Marnie," Sirius said as he bent down to look me in the eyes. "I would never take Harry away from you."

He looked a little awkward as he stood only inches away from me.

But, feeling the remainder of my energy escape I collapsed into his arms and unceremoniously started to bawl.

Sirius thankfully took it in stride and gently put his arms around me before giving me a firm hug. Despite how malnourished he was from prison; his embrace was warm and comforting.

"You could come and live with us," I said abruptly.

I could feel Sirius' soft chuckle.

"One thing at a time Marnie. But that does sound nice," he replied before I looked up at him.

I smiled at him and saw his eyes shining back.

But the moment was severed when we heard a panicked scream from Hermione.

I whipped my head around to see Remus' body convulsing.

 _Merlin, he was turning._

The next moments went by in a blur as Peter took the moment of panic to transform and escape. Ron was hobbling to try and get Hermione up towards the castle whereas Harry and I stood in horror.

I had never seen Remus transform. Obviously, we accepted him for what he was and let him run around outside during full moons where we would often hear his howls in the distance. But, the topic of his transformation had been sort of taboo and I had most definitely never seen it before.

"Remus, my old friend. Stay with me," Sirius said as he ran up to Remus and tried to hold him against his own fragile looking body.

But Remus continued to convulse before I started to see the changes.

"Children, LEAVE! I've got this handled," Sirius bellowed before changing into the Grimm-like dog I had seen so many times over the last year.

I looked in panic at the two men who were always supposed to be like family to me. Peter, who was no where in sight was the reason I didn't have a mother or god-parents anymore, but Sirius and Remus were always supposed to have been in my life. And now they were fighting each other for all of us to stay alive.

"Marnie, we have to go!" Harry said in a saddened voice.

I knew he must have felt as anxious as I did. He grabbed my hand as he helped Ron with his injured leg and Hermione helped guide the levitated Snape back to the castle.

I tried not to turn back as I heard the injured whines from behind us.

My anxiety started to heighten before I felt a wave of cold wash over my body.

I couldn't stop reliving my attempt to torture Sirius or reminding myself of how I had hated an innocent man who should have helped raise me. The thought of growing up without Harry or the screams from my mother as she was tortured.

I looked up to see probably a hundred dementors coming towards us. I swallowed, and it felt like ice down my throat.

"Think of something happy!" Harry yelled.

I tried to wipe my mind clear and think of Sirius coming to live with us. Of Cedric telling me he loves me. Of Harry coming to live with us.

My vision was going cloudy while I only heard screams in my head.

"Squib lover thinks she can save him. She knows too much…" I heard a cackling voice in my head.

I wanted to ask who was talking but my voice had gone mute. The cold inside me felt as if it had frozen my insides.

"We need to think of something happy," Harry said in a mumbled tone.

Through the fog in my vision I saw a silhouette with red hair coming towards me.

" _Fred?"_

XXX

I could feel myself resting one someone's shoulder as I slowly gained consciousness.

"Cedric?" I asked lightly.

"Len, what are you mumbling about?" I knew this voice…

"Wake-up sleepy head," I didn't want to see this again, but my eyes opened anyways.

"Sirius?" my mother replied softly, not at all surprised to wake up on the arm of Sirius Black.

"You've been up late studying again," Sirius said with that same lazy grin.

He looked so handsome as I studied his face, not at all too skinny or paled from his time in Azkaban.

"I want to be ready," I said firmly.

I watched his grin fall.

"We aren't going to graduate for another year Lena. Why can't we enjoy what we have going on right now?" Sirius asked.

"I am enjoying it. But I want to make sure I will get to enjoy my future. I want to be able to have a family and watch them grow up in a world where I am not scared of Death Eaters. I am ready to join the fight and I will do everything I can to prepare before then," my mother continued.

I ignored my pang of sadness and kept reminding myself that Sirius was innocent, and he was just being a git like schoolboys sometimes are.

"Lena, I want to join the fight as much as you do. For once, I feel as if I have too much to lose and I know my family will be on the opposite side. But Hogwarts won't last forever, and I don't want the Death Eaters to be the reason I waste this time," Sirius said, still trying to keep himself collected.

"Well, not everyone has the luxury of being at Hogwarts. Some people are standing vulnerable on the outside and summer is not too far off. We need to know how to protect ourselves," mum said more decisively.

"Merlin, he is all you talk about!" this time it dawned on me who he was talking about.

If they were in their sixth year then mum would be dating my dad by the end of the term, which looked pretty soon by the look of the season.

"Well, I care about him. He's my friend, and yours. Just like I'm your friend," mum replied calmly.

"Well, friends can be replaced," Sirius said seething before getting up and storming away.

The frustration I had felt after watching this memory the first time rose up but then my vision started to cloud. When it came back into focus, I was sitting in the tunnel that leads out to the Black Lake from the castle. It's funny that my mum and I use the same tunnel when we wanted some time alone.

"I knew you would be in here," I heard a deeper voice say from behind me.

My mother doesn't turn to look at him, but I already know it must be Sirius. She probably did as well.

"What do you want Sirius?" mum asks abruptly.

I can tell she's upset by her tone.

Sirius sighs, probably knowing the same thing.

"I know Joss asked you out," he said simply.

My mum turns her head to look at him.

I can feel her quickened pulse and sweaty palms.

"Why haven't you agreed yet?' he asks.

"Because I don't want to lose you," mum says quietly.

Sirius chuckles and puts his arm over mum's shoulder.

"Lena, you are the first girl who ever showed me respect and saw past the Black façade. Because of this you are the first girl I ever loved, but you already know that."

I feel my mother's pulse quicken and a small smile break out, but Sirius continues.

"And as hard of a time as I have had coming to terms with it, I know I blew it. I should have been there when you found out about your dad…" I knew my grandfather had fallen ill suddenly and died while my mother was still in school.

"And I shouldn't want to slow you down from preparing for the real world. Joss has always been the one there for you and as much as I didn't want you to date anyone else, Joss is one of my friends who I do care for," he stopped and brought his thumb up to brush away the few fallen tears running down my mother's face.

"You were the first one I ever loved too," she whispered back.

He sighed but had a smile on his face.

"I know that too Lena. But I'll make you a promise. I will prepare for the fight we have coming and do everything to keep you and Joss and the rest of our friends safe. I'm not going anywhere Tress," he said seriously and playfully at the same time.

"I'll keep you to that promise," my mother replied with her own smile.

I felt as if I was intruding on a very intimate moment from my mother's past but was also relieved to see that Sirius and my mother had buried the hatchet long before the night she was taken from me.

"Marnie. MARNIE! Wake-up," I heard someone urgently calling my name.

My eyes flew open to see Hermione and Harry standing over my bed with wide grins.

"What?" I asked annoyed, realizing I had a splitting headache.

"Come see!" they said, Harry taking my arm to guide me to the window.

I was sure I was still dreaming when I saw Sirius floating… no riding on a hippogriff… outside the window.

"How?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Harry will explain later," Sirius said kindly. "Marnie, about what you said about me and your mother…"

"I take it back!" I said urgently.

"What?" he asked, baffled.

"I saw the truth. I know the whole story of what happened," I said, knowing he would probably think I was insane.

But he just smiled and looked at me with fatherly affection.

"That locket," he said quietly, somewhat out of the blue.

I reached up to hold my ruby pendant.

"That locket was always so full of secrets," he said vaguely before we heard yelling from outside the door.

"I have to go Marnie, but I promise I will keep in touch," he said before turning the hippogriff, which I now noticed was Buckbeak, and flew off into the night.

"Marnie, we have to get back into our beds," Hermione said urgently as we all darted back.

"IT WAS POTTER… OR O'HARA!" Snape said as he barged in before giving me a scathing look.

I'm sure he remembered I was the one who had attacked him.

"Severus think about the insinuation you are making. Poppy has been here the whole time," Professor Dumbledore said softly while being accompanied by a very frazzled looking Minister for Magic.

"I've heard enough," Minister Fudge said before leading the other two men out of the hospital wing, as abruptly as they had entered.

Hermione and Harry spent the rest of the evening explaining the events that took place with Hermione's time turner to myself and Ron. I was actually disappointed that I hadn't figured out that's what Hermione had been using to get to her classes all year, but then again, they were hardly ever used. I was also a little hurt that Harry hadn't woken me up, but they had explained there was little time and they felt it best that Ron was not left alone. I took their explanation in stride and was overall happy that Sirius and Buckbeak were safe.

Madam Pomfrey thankfully let us go the next morning just as breakfast was being served. Unfortunately, Ron had to stay because of his leg but we promised to come back and check on him. I wasn't even down the stairs from the hospital wing before I saw Fred, followed by George and Cedric, running up the stairs.

My heart filled up with the realization of just how much they cared for me as I ran past Fred into Cedric's arms.

"Are you okay Mar?" Cedric asked in a worried tone.

I buried my head into his chest and took in his wintery scent.

"Of course," I answered happily before being escorted down to breakfast where I had to re-tell the events from last night to my friends; leaving out the time turner and my dream.

"Where's Remus?" Harry asked after I was done retelling my story to my friends.

In last night's madness I had almost forgotten that the full moon had caused most of the complications.

"We should go check on him," I said as I stuffed the last of my eggs into my mouth.

"Erm, Marnie," Alicia said awkwardly.

"What is it Leesh?" I asked confusedly.

"Well, it's just…" she started.

"We know Professor Lupin, your uncle, is a werewolf," Lee finished more directly.

"What? How?!" I asked, completely shocked as to how they figured it out.

"Well, we were going to tell you a little more delicately," Fred said with a directed glare across the table, "but the whole school found out last night or this morning."

I felt dread fill up my body. I knew how werewolves were treated throughout the wizarding world. I also knew I had kept a secret from my friends and the twins for five years. Then there was also Cedric.

But Cedric just clasped my hand and squeezed it comfortingly while the others looked at me with worry, not fear or disgust.

"We have to go find him," I said while Harry nodded.

The rest of them seemed to understand as we raced off towards his office.

"Remus!" we both said as we ran into the Defense classroom and saw him stuffing his things into his trunk.

"Hello, you two," he said with a tired and guilty look on his face.

But he opened his arms as we approached and hugged us tightly for a few moments.

"We didn't tell!" I started once he had let go but he just put his hand up to cut me off.

"I know you didn't Marnie. You and Harry have guarded my secret and I know that was a hard burden to bear. It was Severus who told everyone, and the rumour has since spread," he said with a shrug.

"But that's not fair!" Harry started but Remus stopped him again.

"Letting Sirius go was too much for him, I guess. Plus, after last night it is apparent at how dangerous it can be to have a werewolf loose at a school," he said with dread in his eyes.

"You didn't hurt anyone uncle," I said soothingly.

He looked at me with a pained look.

"But, I could have just as easily," he said with finality.

"So, you're leaving?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I thought it courteous to leave before all the letters come tomorrow from the concerned parents," he explained.

"But you were the best Defense teacher we've had!" I said defiantly.

"I appreciate that Marnie, but I must leave before things become worse," he bent down to close his trunk but pulled out a piece of parchment before latching it.

"I believe this is yours," he said, handing the map over to me.

I looked down at it and heard Remus' words ring through my ears about betraying my mother. Plus, the twins had already bestowed it to Harry and we knew all the secret passages.

"Here," I said, decidedly giving it to Harry.

He took it graciously and hugged me, probably not knowing what he wanted to say.

A little while after Remus led Harry and I out of his office before he closed the door behind him with his trunk in tow.

Harry went on ahead, but Remus took my shoulder and paused to say something.

"I just wanted you to know that I know what Sirius did during your Hogsmeade visit with Cedric," he said while I blushed furiously.

"We were just walking," I said, trying to defend my honour.

"I just wanted to say that Sirius was always very protective of Lena, and when you were born that carried onto you as well," Remus explained.

"I know they dated," I said.

He paused and looked thoughtfully at me.

"When we thought Sirius had been the spy, Joss and I agreed that we should protect you from him and his past with your mother. But now, I'm glad you know the truth. There was never any tension between Sirius and Joss, and they both cared for Lena in their own way," Remus continued.

"I do like that Cedric boy of yours. I know he treats you well," Remus added with a smile.

I felt my blush return and gave Remus one last hug before escorting him to the door. I knew I would see him tomorrow when I returned from school, but in that moment, it felt like it would be a lifetime.

The End of the Year Feast was actually pretty irritating as the rumours spread about my uncle and the escape of Sirius Black. Although, thankfully the two weren't tied together. I worried about Sirius and when we would get to see him again. This was doubled by the fact that Harry would have to return to his aunt and uncles for the first half of the summer and Cedric was also going on another trip with his father. But my friends, especially the twins, had promised to keep me entertained for the summer. I was truly fortunate that they had stood by my family when the news of Remus broke out. Most of them had actually thought it was pretty cool they had a werewolf for a professor. Anything was better than that dung brain Lockhart. But for now, I was sad at how things had been left and frustrated that Peter had gotten away. It didn't look like this summer was going to be a very good one.


	46. World Cup

**Just a pre-cursor there are some intimate moments in this chapter but nothing past PG.**

 **Happy reading!**

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There was a knock at my door.

"Are you up Marnie?" my father asked through my closed bedroom.

"Yes!" I said excitedly before going over to open it.

"Looks like you've been up for a while," dad regarded, seeing that I was already dressed and had been reading on my bed for about an hour.

"I couldn't really fall back asleep," I replied.

Dad chuckled and led me downstairs where he poured us each a bowl of cereal.

"I remember going to one of the games when I was a boy," dad said which surprised me that he hadn't said anything before.

"You did?" I asked with peak interest.

"Yea, Australia was playing in the finals and we actually flew out to go see it. I was five years old and Penn was six. I had never seen anything like it," dad said.

"You flew on a broom?" I asked, bewildered.

"No, my family managed to figure out how to buy tickets for a plane," he explained.

"Oh, those are the high-flying birds that you point out to me aren't they?" I replied.

Dad smiled and nodded.

"Granny and Gramps were always trying new things for you, weren't they?" I asked.

"Yes, they were never fazed that I was a squib whereas Penn was a wizard. I think they gave each of us the best life we could for what we were," he said fondly.

The buzzer went off on the oven which prompted dad to take my unfinished cereal away from me and put it in the sink.

"Time to get a move on," he said promptly.

The sun was only just starting to peak over the horizon as dad and I got ready and headed out of the cottage. We walked for probably twenty minutes before we stopped on the top of a foothill.

"Marnie!" I heard a familiar girl shriek before I saw Ginny and all the others come into view. I rushed over to hug the girl who was now an inch or two taller than me. When she finally let go the twins swooped in to take over and enveloped me in a sandwiched hug.

It felt good to see most of my friends as they each took turns hugging me. It was only when Ron gave his own timid hug that I saw Harry beside my father.

"Harry!" I said excitedly before I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around him.

He was now also taller than me and had definitely fully adopted his father's unruly hair.

"It's only been a month and you've changed so much," I said, still holding onto him.

It had been quite lonely at the cottage. Without Harry, it had mostly just been me and my father while Remus was busier than normal. Apparently, he had been trying to locate Sirius, and once he had the two of them had been making plans to prove his innocence. Dad still hadn't seen Sirius since it was much too risky for Sirius to be out in the open and Remus had deemed it unsafe to travel to his location at the moment. I thought that Remus was still feeling guilty about his transformation at the end of the term even though we had never been upset with him and dad had outright told him he wasn't angry. It was nice though that Sirius had started sending me letters. Mostly he had just asked me about school, Harry and Cedric. Nothing too personal or even about my mother. But those were probably face-to-face conversations.

"Marnie!" I heard another familiar voice before I turned to see Cedric and Mr. Diggory approach up the hill.

I ran over to him and threw my arms over him for a brief hug before stepping back and smiling at him. I didn't want either of our fathers to say anything which is why I felt the physical contact should be minimal. I looked over at both of them and saw my own father had an embarrassed blush whereas Mr. Diggory had a sort of smug look. I didn't want either of them to voice their opinions in that moment.

"It'll be any minute now!" Mr. Weasley announced from a few paces away where he was standing beside an old looking boot.

I ran back to my father and looped my arms over his neck.

"I'll bring your trunk over to Molly when you're away," he said, bringing me even closer to him.

I felt it must be exceptionally lonely for my father with Remus constantly away. This summer had brought about a number of changes, and most of which were difficult to adapt.

"I love you," I said before kissing his cheek and then going over to join the rest of the Weasley's and Diggory's.

"I love you too Marnie. And you too Harry!" he exclaimed as we both waved back at him with smiles.

"Ready?" Mr. Weasley asked.

I had never used a portkey before, but Remus had told me about it last week when he had been over for supper. Apparently, it had a similar sensation as apparation but lasted longer and if you weren't careful you ended up flat on the ground.

I was only able to put one of my fingers on the boot since I was squished between Fred and Cedric before the boot started to emit a sort of glowing light. I pressed down my one finger to make sure I wasn't left behind before I felt myself lift off the ground.

"Let go!" Mr. Weasley said after a few moments, and I looked at him like he was mad.

As far as I knew we were as high above the ground as one of those plane birds.

But I trusted Mr. Weasley so I hesitantly let go and felt myself fall backwards. I tried to look around and noticed the ground was only a few feet away. I struggled to bring my feet towards the ground, but I was already falling backwards. Unfortunately, I ended up landing on my rear.

"You alright Marnie?" Cedric asked as I looked up and saw he had somehow landed on his feet.

But I was sure that him and his father travelled via portkey often when Mr. Diggory was doing research for the Ministry.

I took his hand and shook off the light pain radiating from my behind. I was thankful to see that besides Cedric, his father and Mr. Weasley, the rest of us had all landed ungracefully.

Cedric kept my hand in his as we walked to enter the gates for the Quidditch World Cup.

"We're headed this way!" Mr. Diggory announced once we were inside.

"I'll see you soon Mar," Cedric said softly before stealing a kiss on my cheek.

The warmth where his lips had touched my skin radiated as I watched him disappear into the crowd.

"Come on Marnie!" Ginny called back before I ran up to walk between her and Hermione.

They were both giggling at my moment with Cedric. As much as I loved Cedric, I didn't miss the attention our relationship seemed to attract.

Mr. Weasley led our group to a small campsite before he set down an even tinier looking tent. We had read all about extension charms last year and I was excited to see the inside. Once it was set up, I led Harry inside who looked very skeptical at the tent compared to the size of our group. But once we stepped through, his face lit up in astonishment before we all started to look around.

"The girl's tent is up!" Mr. Weasley announced as he entered the main tent.

"Want to check it out?" Fred offered while I nodded and was led out of the main tent by the twins.

I had known they had wanted to tell me something since I saw them.

The girl's tent wasn't nearly as big but would fit the three of us with room to spare. There were also cots set up for each of us, so we wouldn't have to sleep on the ground.

"So, what's got you all riled up this morning?" I asked, wanting to get right to the chase.

"Our mother," George answered moodily.

I frowned and figured this meant Mrs. Weasley had finally figured out about the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes the twins had finally been creating over the summer. It had been ages that the three of us had been talking over ideas and dreaming up schemes, but the twins had decidedly set about creating joke products over the summer. Admittedly, I had been helping them out as much as I could; it served as a good distraction from the rest of my life. This had meant sending secret and even coded letters at odd times of the day, usually early in the morning before Mrs. Weasley was awake. I had felt bad about the secrecy, but the twins had argued their case well. We all knew that she would not approve of the products we were making. This was topped onto the fact that the twins had only received six OWLs between the two of them. I had admittedly been a little astounded since I knew they were good enough students, but they didn't seem phased by the lack of grades.

"When did she find out?" I asked, knowing by George's tone that I was right in my assumption.

"When we went and saved your brother," Fred answered.

"Oh yes, how were Mr. and Mrs. Horrible?" I asked, referring to the Dursley's.

I was originally supposed to go with the Weasley's to fetch Harry, but my father hadn't thought it was a good idea when I had said out loud what I wanted to say to them. My father had actually grown quite concerned. I also think he was still worried about the Unforgiveable curse I had tried to cast on Sirius. Remus had obviously told my dad and it had since become a taboo topic. The twins had been the most understanding when I had confided in them. Fred had been proud that I hadn't actually been able to cast it and also decided not to kill Pettigrew, even though he ended up getting away. Fred and George were also very keen now on wanting to meet Sirius, they figured he would have a lot of interesting stories now that we knew he wasn't a murderer.

"Well, that uncle of his was an alarming colour of purple, and his aunt looks like a horse. It was his cousin though, had 'git' written all over his face," Fred said slyly.

"You didn't!" I said, already knowing the answer.

"Freddie here "accidently" dropped one of his Ton-Tongue Toffee's. It was genius and that gullible oaf fell right for it!" George explained excitedly.

"But then dad yelled at us when we got home—" Fred continued with a sullen expression.

"Mum of course heard and brought up the whole OWL thing again—" George said.

"And this morning she confiscated all the Toffee's," Fred said in an annoyed and dejected tone.

I felt my own annoyance flare up. I had helped develop those and had even dropped some of my own money to be able to order in a specific type of sugar I had read about in my Wizarding Agriculture book. But I didn't think this was the time to say anything, not that I cared about getting the money back. I had known the risk going in.

"Did it work though? I mean on Harry's stupid cousin?" I asked, wanting to change the mood.

Both of the twins lit up smiling.

"Dad said his tongue got to ten feet easily!" George said proudly.

"That's brilliant!" I said, glad that we had at least been successful before Mrs. Weasley confiscated our product.

We then spent the rest of the morning sitting in the girl's tent talking about new products and other products we still had in development. Thankfully I was storing some of our newer experiments and ingredients so to try and protect our investments. I didn't think dad would outright rid of the stuff if he found it haphazardly stashed in my closet. Most of it however was now in my trunk ready for the next school year.

When our stomachs started to grumble the three of us headed outside to join the others for lunch.

"Where have you three been?" George asked when Harry, Hermione and Ron came back.

They had been tasked with getting the water when we had first gone into the tent and arrived only twenty minutes after we came out for lunch. Mr. Weasley was trying to start the fire which didn't give me much confidence that we would be eating soon. Thankfully Hermione knew what she was doing and kindly took over the duty. Once the fire was started, we passed the time by looking at all the wizards who had come to watch the match. People from all different countries were walking about the campsites and setting up their tents. It was interesting to watch them all try and pass off as muggles. Thankfully my dad had attended a muggle school and knew how to dress to fit in. I was currently in denim pants and a t-shirt.

An hour later Bill, Charlie and Percy Weasley all apparated to the campsite in time for food. I got up and hugged the two oldest boys since I hadn't seen them in a few years. I actually hadn't seen Charlie since the end of my second year before he had moved to Romania to work with dragons. Although we hadn't been nearly as close as I was with the twins, or even Ron, I still always liked his company and honestly missed him being our prefect instead of Percy. But Percy had also graduated last year and was since working for the Ministry. Percy was currently going on about his paper on cauldron thickness and I felt myself start to drift off. The twins had warned me it was all Percy ever talked about. I had also known they had sent a fertilizer sample to his desk which he had apparently analyzed for a report. I had tried to feel bad for him, but I thought it was too funny to be too concerned.

Once lunch was over, I decided to go over and find Cedric's campsite to be able to properly say hello to him. We had been sending letters back and forth almost daily since he went abroad with his father again to Norway. Seeing him this morning had sent an excited chill through my body and was now almost guiding me to him.

I started walking towards the second field where Cedric and his father had been directed to go at the front gate. Mr. Weasley had given me permission to go and visit Cedric so long as I returned before everyone headed to the stands. I couldn't get over how many people were all congregated into the adjoining fields. I didn't really know how muggles dressed or how wizards were supposed to fit in, but I felt as if a lot were failing. The array of mismatched colours, fabrics and odd-looking robes which were adorning a lot of the witches and wizards couldn't possibly be considered normal for muggles.

"Mar!" I heard my name shouted excitedly from a few campsites over.

I walked towards the sound of Cedric's voice and smiled when I met his gaze. I couldn't stop myself from running into his arms and letting him hold me. Despite the heat, he still smelled like winter which I felt I couldn't get enough of. When I finally let go, he led me to a seat in front of their cooking fire.

"Where's your father?" I asked.

"Oh, he got led away a little while ago from some Ministry colleagues. He told me he would return in a while," Cedric answered easily.

I inched closer and sidled up beside him, so our sides were now touching. He clasped my hand in his after handing me a cup of tea. There was a pot sitting on top of the dimming fire to keep hot.

"I missed you," he said before leaning down and putting his lips on my forehead.

I knew he had also stopped to smell my hair which I'm glad I had left down today.

"How was Norway?" I asked, wanting to avoid being too distracted by him.

"It was an adventure. I had a lot of fun with my dad like I told you in the letters. But honestly, I would have liked to have stayed and have spent some time with you," he answered sweetly.

"Well, maybe we could plan to hang out next summer?" I asked as casually as possible.

He smiled brightly, "I would like that. I'll make sure I ask my dad to let me stay at home for at least a little while next year."

He then put his arm around me and pulled me close to his chest. My head was pulled into him, so I could hear his heartbeat. Its rhythm seemed a little elevated and I wondered if he was just as excited as I was.

"Mar, I hope you will excuse me being forward," Cedric started with as much nerve as he could muster.

I lifted my head to meet his eyes and smiled at his apprehension.

"I am trying to be a gentleman here, but I haven't seen you in over a month and all I want to do right now is snog," he said while his cheeks turned tomato red.

I felt my palms start to sweat in nervous excitement while I tried to muster up my own nerve. I brought my face, so it was only an inch from his and smiled at all the emotions I could see swimming in his eyes; apprehension, eagerness, excitement, and something else I couldn't pinpoint.

"I love you," I whispered before closing the distance between us.

He let out an uncharacteristic moan which didn't go past my own lips. I felt his body lean forward towards mine and his hands, which were around my wrist, tighten.

A moment later Cedric leaned back.

"Merlin, I love you Mar. But I do want to somewhat keep up my gentlemanly appearance with you," he said with a pause. "My dad won't be back for a while…"

I raised my eyebrow but quickly understood his meaning. In response I put my hand into his and let him guide me to his tent which he was sharing with his father. It seemed to be the same size on the inside as the Weasley's which meant there was lots of room for just two people. On each side I could see a bed and Cedric led me to the one on the left. I sat down on it and waited for Cedric to join me. When he sat down, I was very aware of the bed sinking down under his weight.

"I just want to kiss my beautiful girlfriend without an audience," he said reassuringly.

I swallowed before smiling but quickly closed the distance between us before I lost my nerve. But as soon as my lips met his all of my anxiety drifted away. His lips were soft and almost thoughtful across mine, as if he was ensuring I felt comfortable. I deepened it to reassure him which he responded to quickly. I had no idea how long we sat there in each other's arms. His hands went between running through my hair to running down my back to pulling me closer into our embrace.

By the time Cedric pulled back so not to be awkwardly interrupted by his father, he led me out of the tent and bid me farewell. He had offered to walk me back to my campsite, but I already noticed some people headed towards the pitch and I didn't want him to become separated from his father.

He pulled me back into one last embrace and brought me as close as possible so there were no spaces between us.

"Marnie, I hope you know how much I love you," he said sweetly but with a kind of severity behind it.

I looked at him with a smile.

"Well, I am known for forgetting important things," I said mockingly.

He just gave me a smug look in return.

"Well, I'll always be around to remind you," he said before I turned around and headed back towards my own campsite.

I spent the entire walk back trying to erase the stupid grin off my face, so no one would be suspicious.


	47. Gamble

"You did what?" I asked the twins as we walked towards the stands.

George had just admitted that he and Fred had gambled their entire savings on a bet with Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

"Don't worry about it, Marnie," George said confidently.

I looked at him with an exasperated look. I hadn't minded before, investing in their prank products, but now I was worried I would be the sole sponsor. I knew they would never expect anything like that from me, but I also had faith that they would make something of themselves with these ideas.

"Don't you trust us?" Fred asked simply.

His demeanor took me off guard and for a moment I felt that he had said _us_ only on principle.

"Of course," I said defensively.

Fred shrugged off whatever look had been on his face and proceeded to put his arm over my shoulder.

"Here you go Marnie!" Harry caught up to me as we approached the stadium and proceeded to ascend the stairs.

Harry handed me a pair of omnioculars. I thanked him and took the opportunity of climbing the stairs to try and catch up with him. Obviously, we had been sending letters back and forth during the summer and we didn't dare mention anything about Sirius when we were in the open. Looking at my god-brother now, I pushed the irritating thought out of my head that was telling me he wasn't a young boy anymore that probably needed my guidance. He was only turning 14, but two square-offs with Voldemort in the last three years had hyper-driven his need for maturity.

Before I could dwell too much on Harry, we finally reached the peak of the stands, obviously where we had been headed.

"This is incredible!" I said in awe as I looked out over the stadium.

"One hundred thousand people," Mr. Weasley said as joined me with all the others from our party.

I continued to look out in amazement until I heard a clatter on the platform floor. I looked over to see Percy oddly bowing to an older looking man. Percy had bent over so low that his glasses had fallen off and made the sound which had averted my attention.

I looked up at the man who had Percy so enthralled and realized after a moment that this was the Minster for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. The minister was now extending his hand towards Harry who took it and greeted the man heartily. I knew they had met last year when Harry had blown up his aunt and the ministry had wanted to protect Harry from Sirius Black; thankfully saving him from any reprimand for underage magic.

I continued to look at the minister skeptically since I knew he was the one still hunting down Sirius when I knew the truth about what happened to Harry's parents. My stomach dropped even further at the arrival of the Malfoy's. Mr. Fudge was going on about some big donation Draco's father had given to St. Mungo's and I had to force myself not to gag. My mother didn't need any of his tainted money.

Unfortunately, I didn't completely stifle myself and a small noise escaped from my lips. Mr. Malfoy turned his attention and stared at me with contempt. I knew how people like him regarded those such as my father. I even remembered the disturbing memory I had seen about him stopping my mother in the Slytherin corridor and threatening to kill her and my father.

I met his malevolent look with my own determined stare and noticed that Fred moved his body, so I was now behind his shoulder. Mr. Malfoy soon drew his look away and went to sit on the other side of Mr. Fudge. This was only after he had an uncomfortable exchange with Mr. Weasley, who I remembered had had a heated discussion with Mr. Malfoy in Flourish and Blotts two years ago.

Thankfully, everyone's attention was averted as Ludo Bagman arrived to commentate the game.

Once he was in his spot, he put his wand to his throat so to amplify his voice. He welcomed everyone to the game and wasted no time in introducing the mascots. With this prompt, I watched as one hundred veela entered the field. I rolled my eyes, having read all about the creatures who had similar enchanting properties as sea maidens who lured men to do their bidding. I looked over to see Hermione growing impatient with both Harry and Ron who looked as if they were trying to look macho. Unfortunately, George and Fred were in no better shape as they wore expressions akin to drooling. Once the veela were directed off the field, I could hear the adamant protests. I kept staring at Fred as I watched him go from complete awestruck, to frustrated, to slowly aware of faculties.

"You have a little something," I said, pointing to the crook of my mouth to indicate he had saliva running down his face.

His face turned beet red as he hastily wiped his hand across his face while using the other one to nudge my shoulder in annoyance. I just laughed at his embarrassment before turning my attention back to the field in time to see a rainbow appear.

"Leprechauns!" I shouted excitedly as I watched the little creatures throwing gold coins into the stands.

I had also read all about the creatures known for their luck and had admittedly once gone looking for them after one rainy afternoon. My adventure had ended when my father came stalking out in his rain boots to find me running across some of the farther foot hills. I had not been allowed to go looking for leprechauns again.

Ludo Bagman once again started announcing to the entire stadium once all of the mascots had cleared to the sidelines. Once Bagman had announced both team players, I inched closer to the edge of my seat. The players were very small in the distance, but everyone seemed to be animated over Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian seeker.

I brought up my omnioculars for a closer look at the players and felt a hand press on my stomach and gently nudged me back in my seat. I looked over to see Fred with an anxious look on his face.

"It's a much farther drop if you pass out up here," he said seriously.

I just rolled my eyes but didn't argue the point. I knew I had really scared everyone last year after passing out at the quidditch game from the dementors and falling off the stands.

"They're off!" I heard Ludo Bagman announce which caused me to whip my head back around.

I brought my omnioculars back up to my face and was enthralled by how close it brought me to the action. If the players hadn't been whipping about, I might have actually been able to see the expressions on their face.

It was extraordinary how fast the players were flying around and in no time at all Ireland had scored the first goal. I could hear the wild applause all around me as 100,000 people all stared intently at the players.

"What are they doing?!" I asked when I saw Viktor Krum instantly take-off in a vertical path headed straight for the ground.

The fact that he was going faster than I had ever seen anyone else on a broom was also terrifying.

"Ah, what's he following him for?" Fred said in frustration as I noticed Ireland's seeker Aidan Lynch following close on Krum's trail.

Before I could ask my next question, I stood up in shock and horror as Krum lifted his broom inches from the ground, but Lynch was not so lucky. I could hear his body smack against the ground with an audible thump.

Fred once again put his hands on both of my sides and pulled me back down into a seated position.

"It's called the Wronski Feint," George explained wearily as he looked towards Lynch who was now being attended to by the onsite healers.

"What's that?" I asked, using my omnioculars to zoom onto Lynch who was now somehow returning to his feet.

"It's a very difficult maneuver some pro-seeker players use to throw off their opponent," Fred responded now that he felt sure I would stay in my seat.

I had already heard the twins both assure Ginny that Lynch would recover quickly so I turned my attention back to the players who were all positioned to restart.

Once the game recommenced, it started to resemble a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but on a much more intense level. The plays were almost ferocious, and Ireland was awarded the first penalty.

I watched as the angry looking veela all stormed to the field and started moving their bodies in some sort of malicious portraying dance. The once beautiful looking creatures now wore looks of revenge as they squared off against the rambunctious leprechauns. I looked over to see the twins with their hands over their ears to prevent themselves from being smitten again. However, this didn't stop the referee from heading out onto the field and trying to demonstrate his own athletic ability. He was flexing his muscles when Bagman announced for someone to knock some sense into him.

I shook my head before returning my attention back to the match. The sheer finesse of all the players made all of their complex strategies look effortless. The game was getting more ruthless however and the referee still didn't have his wits about him. Ron and Harry were angrily shouting for a time out since it looked like Krum was injured. However, this didn't stop Lynch from descending down the pitch at another alarming rate.

"He sees it!" I heard Ginny squeal.

From the omnioculars I could barely make out the glint of gold that the Irish keeper was obviously chasing after. But, despite his injuries Viktor Krum had easily closed the distance between himself and Lynch.

"Oh no!" I shrieked seconds before I realized Lynch was going to hit the ground again.

I flinched when I saw his body crumple as it had the first time.

"He has it!" I heard Fred announce which made me take my gaze off the very still seeker on the ground being attended to by healers.

Sure enough, Viktor Krum had the snitch raised above his head with something almost resembling pride behind his stoic demeanor.

I was grabbed into a celebratory group hug by the twins and Ginny as they all happily jumped in the air joyously. I easily followed their lead and celebrated in the win for Ireland. I also felt relief wash over me as I realized, in blatant awe, that the twins had won their bet against Bagman.

Ginny didn't let go of my arm as we all walked back to the campsite. Her excitement was palpable as she had both of her hands latched onto my arm and practically pulled me along. When we got back to the campsite, we all sat outside the tents where we had spent the afternoon eating lunch and crowd watching. Mr. Weasley doled out each of us a cup of hot cocoa as everyone went over every exciting detail of the match.

"Time for bed girls," Mr. Weasley said so he could watch that the three of us got safely into our tent.

As I changed into my pajamas, I could hear the boys filter into the adjacent tent. Ginny was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow and I wasn't that far behind her.

Oddly enough I woke up standing in a bathroom stall. I unlatched the door and came out into a large, stone-walled lavatory with a row of porcelain sinks. I was at Hogwarts in the Charms hallway, one of the cleaner washrooms in the school. I walked over to one of the sinks and gasped when I noticed my hair was about five inches shorter than I currently had it. Other than that, however, my eyes were the same colour of orange, my face was the same angular shape, and I could even see the same line of freckles dusting my cheeks. But I wasn't me, and the yellow robes gave it away.

I sighed in annoyance, but unsurprisingly nothing audible escaped my lips.

"Cissy, I spy an itsy-bitsy squib lover," an older girl said in a voice that sounded as sweet as acid.

I looked over to see two girls who looked as if they must be in their sixth and seventh years of school and who were also probably sisters. Sickeningly, I knew the one who had spoken was Bellatrix Black since I would recognize those blood-thirsty eyes anywhere. Presumably, the blond girl beside her was Narcissa Black, her sister.

I stared at Narcissa, dubbed Cissy, and could see the similarities to her son Draco. As well, since I had just seen her current self only hours ago at the quidditch world cup, she honestly hadn't changed much in the last twenty years. She was a beautiful woman who was obviously raised to eat poise and demure for breakfast.

"Hello Lena," Narcissa said in an eerily calm voice.

Her voice was devoid of all emotion and yet it sent icicles up my spine.

"What can I do for you Narcissa?" my mother answered in an almost bored tone.

I couldn't help but be proud that my mother wasn't afraid of these girls, when I had known they were almost as horrible as students as they were Death Eaters.

"I have heard that you have caught the eye of Lucius Malfoy," Narcissa answered in a tone which can only be described as pins and needles.

"I couldn't care less what that boy thinks of me. He is a vile coward and I pity the woman who becomes his pet," my mother retorted almost angrily.

I grinned devilishly at my mother's answer, full well knowing how far her insult reached.

Narcissa took a step closer to my mother with precision and purpose, however this was decidedly all the permission Bellatrix needed.

The darker haired sister who had been uncharacteristically quiet was not inches from my mother's face with her wand drawn to her chest.

My mother and Narcissa stayed in their positions. I could feel my mother's pulse elevate but she remained cool and collected.

She turned her head slowly to meet Bellatrix's stare.

"Step away from me Bellatrix. I am a Head Girl and I will make sure you see the inside of a detention room until you graduate," my mother replied evenly.

Considering Bellatrix Black eventually got in cahoots with Voldemort himself I didn't feel like detention was much of a threat. Surprisingly however, Bellatrix took half a step back before Narcissa raised her hand, beckoning her sister away.

Obediently, Bellatrix retreated, and the two sisters left the lavatory in silence, although not without looks of loathing thrown back at my mother.

"Ginny, Hermione, Marnie!" I was startled at the sound of Mr. Weasley's urgent voice.

I opened my eyes and felt relief to be back in the tent, not face-to-face with the Black sisters.

"Put your coats on, quickly!" Mr. Weasley ordered, and my initial relief turned to anxiety.

I helped Ginny find her coat before we both followed Hermione out of the tent.

I looked around and saw that everyone was fleeing their campsites and headed towards the woods. I turned around to see what everyone was running from and noticed a group of people dressed up in long cloaks and white masks. The costumes were eerie, as if I were looking at a soulless phantom. My anxiety heightened again as I noticed them getting closer, which also meant the screams I hadn't noticed before were getting louder.

I looked up into the air and saw the family of muggles who we had met earlier when they assigned us the campsite. They were being controlled and, most unfortunately, tortured and humiliated. I flinched when I saw the children being spun around in the air and heard their screams for it to stop.

Ginny was latched onto my arm and I brought her face to my chest, so I could try and protect her from the ghastly sight. I stroked her hair as we waited for everyone to come out of the boys' tent. I gave Harry a meaningful look who returned it with his own look of worry.

"We are off to help the ministry, stay together and keep each other safe," Mr. Weasley instructed hastily before he ran off with Charlie, Bill and Percy.

It was my turn to grab Ginny's arm and pull her with me as we followed Fred and George into the thrall of people.

I saw Fred and George alternate every twenty seconds as they took turns to check that Ginny and I were still close at their heels. They finally slowed down out of necessity when we entered the wooded area at the perimeter of the field.

I took the moment to turn around and check on Harry and the others.

"Dammit!" I said, probably too loud when we were trying to stay away from the costumed freaks.

"What's wrong?" Fred looked back in alarm.

"We lost our younger brothers and Hermione," I said worriedly.

"They'll be fine, they have each other," George reassured, but I knew just as much as he did how the younger three seemed to constantly draw unwanted attention and risk.

Ginny had been silent since we left the tent, but I knew she was trying to keep a brave face.

"You look lost little squib," I heard a voice from a familiar and unwanted source.

I turned around again to see Marcus Flint walking behind us.

"Well, we can't all look at home like you do in a mass hysteria," I replied coolly.

Flint smirked at my comment.

"What do you want Flint?" Fred asked seething as he came to stand on my other side.

"Well, I was trying to stall you long enough for the Death Eaters to catch up and take O'Hara here as a hostage," he replied evenly.

I fought back the shiver that ran up my spine as he stared at me provokingly.

"They can't have her," Ginny spoke up as I saw her draw her shoulders and raise her head more confidently.

Flint chuckled but continued to look me dead in the eyes.

"It's only a matter of time squib before they come for you and rid Britain of all the mudbloods and squibs. And I want a front row seat when your day comes," he responded menacingly.

I could see all three of the Weasley's gearing up to take Flint on, but I didn't want to start a brawl that would bring the attention of the now confirmed Death Eaters.

Thankfully, we were interrupted when we heard several screams which also diverted Flint's attention. I planned to use the interruption as a way to draw the Weasley's away, however Flint got a panicked look on his face and ran off towards where we had last seen the hooded figures.

I looked up where Flint had been staring and saw a green, cloudy image drawn in the air. It was a picture of a floating skull with a snake running through it.

"Merlin, it's his mark," I whispered with an icy chill.

"What mark?" Ginny asked worriedly again as she took my arm.

"The Dark Mark," I replied.

"Let's go find our dad," George suggested, not able to disguise the worry from his voice.

We quickly headed back towards our campsite. It didn't take long to find it and thankfully neither of our tents had been destroyed or torn down like some of the rest.

"Fred, George, Ginny, Marnie!" Charlie ran out when he heard our approach.

He held the tent flap open and urged us all inside. Bill and Percy were also back but I was extremely worried to see the others hadn't returned.

However, before I could get too caught up in my head, we heard several sets of footsteps approaching the tent. Charlie went back out to investigate and came back with a look of relief. Mr. Weasley entered the tent followed by Harry, Ron and Hermione. I stood up and rushed over to Harry. He returned my familial embrace and I could tell how anxious he had been.

"What happened?" I asked as I guided him to sit down with the rest of us.

Mr. Weasley started while Harry and the others filled in the blanks. If I wasn't familiar with the level of unbelievable that constantly hovers around Harry, I would have struggled to comprehend the story they told.

Afterwards, I had a million questions about this house elf Winky who somehow got a hold of Harry's wand but didn't cast the spell for the dark mark that had scared Flint away; but I was interrupted by Percy and Hermione who were having an increasingly heated discussion about the treatment of house elves.

"Alright, time for bed," Mr. Weasley interrupted with a rare air of absolute authority.

No one argued as we returned to our tent and inched our sleeping bags and cots as close as they could together with Ginny in the middle. I lay my head back down on my pillow and gazed up at the tent's ceiling as I replayed my dream in my head. I had briefly pushed it out of my head in the adrenaline of getting out of the tent and fleeing from the Death Eaters, but now that everything was relatively quiet, and I could only hear Ginny's rhythmic breathing, I couldn't help but think of what my dream meant.

Unfortunately, this one seemed more straight forward than all the others; the Death Eaters weren't afraid to make themselves known and if Flint was right, my family was no longer safe.


	48. An Announcement and a Newcomer

"It's rather annoying how secretive everyone is being about this supposed new rule, isn't it?" George asked huffily as Fred and I followed him down the train.

Mrs. Weasley had escorted the lot of us to King's Cross with Charlie and Bill. I wished I had gotten to visit with them more properly but the last day of break had been fairly distracted. When we had gotten back the following morning after the Death Eaters attack, Molly had fussed over everyone; including those who weren't her proper family.

I let Aster out of their cage once we were settled in the compartment with the rest of our friends. My father had brought all of my packed possessions to the Weasley's while the rest of us were at the match. He had also gone shopping with Mrs. Weasley to collect Harry and my required supplies.

"Did you end up choosing some dress robes?" Alicia asked, wasting no time in her excitement.

I felt my uncontrollable blush cross my face as I thought of the sapphire blue gown folded delicately in my trunk. Mrs. Weasley had shown me the dress when we had all returned, and I headed up to Ginny's room for my things. Apparently, it had been my mother's and my father had decided to bestow it to me for this secret thing everyone was so hushed about. It had been inexplicable finding dress robes listed with the rest of my required supplies.

"Mum and dad brought me to London for a day of shopping. I ended up finding a gold dress," Ange answered more excitedly than I would have thought.

But then I watched as she passively stole a glance at George. I smiled between them but neither of them noticed as they were both awkwardly trying to avoid catching the other's attention. I had asked both of them over the summer if they wanted to pursue anything with each other, but both had given a non-committed answer.

"Katie and I went out together!" Alicia added with great enthusiasm. "She found a pretty purple dress while mine is coquelicot."

I had no idea what colour coquelicot was, and I could already tell the boys were wholly disinterested in talking about dresses. Therefore, the conversation was soon changed to the disturbing events which took place at the Quidditch World Cup. All three girls and Lee had also been at the game with their respective families. But no one was really eager to discuss the horror which was the Death Eaters, so the conversation later transitioned into the upcoming quidditch season. As interesting as my friends' conversation was, however, I found myself distracted. I mostly just stared out the window and watched the storm clouds roll in. At some point Aster perched into my lap and dozed off. I stroked their delicate looking wings and thought back to seeing Cedric at the Quidditch match, before all the chaos. His kisses had been more urgent, even though he hadn't pressed for anything further than snogging. I had snogged him hundreds of times, but this felt like it was becoming different, filled with something more. I also realized that I liked the urgency behind them, that I wanted Cedric to keep kissing me like the world might end.

When we finally arrived at the school, it was a torrential downpour. The seven of us made a run for it with our trunks in tow. Despite our efforts however, we were soaked by the time we entered the self-pulling carriages. Each of us performed our own drying spell, but the chill had already set into my bones. I hugged myself to try and keep some ounce of warmth throughout my body. Fred must have noticed since he put his arm over my shoulder and rubbed his hand up and down my arm. I paused, for the first time I could remember, and felt that maybe this wasn't completely appropriate when I was dating Cedric. I caught the brief look from Ange's face, but she turned away before I could measure her reaction. Decidedly, I cast off my own doubts, Fred had been my best friend for six years; it didn't mean anything.

We all took off running again once our carriage pulled up to the front of the school.

"Lucky we aren't the ones ferrying in the boats this year,' Lee said as we all took a seat in the Great Hall.

I rolled my eyes but did feel sorry for the first years. I remembered back when it was the five of us coming across in the boats. I hadn't felt that excited in my entire life; seeing the first glimpse of the castle while Fred held my hand.

I cast a quick glance over to Fred who was sitting across from me, beside Lee. He had always been a touchy sort of person, always grabbing my hand to lead me places or putting an arm over me when we walked. Albeit, George was less forward than Fred, but it was just Fred's nature. I shouldn't feel weird about it now.

What did strike me was that Katie was now opting to sit beside Lee, instead of Alicia, who was now sitting across the table from her best friend. Alicia and Katie had been inseparable since our first year as well, not to mention that Lee and Katie's so-called relationship had been manifesting at a glacial rate. The fact that they were sitting beside each other seemed almost momentous. I shared a look with Ange who only rolled her eyes. None of us had ever had a problem with the two of them dating, so we had never understood why they took things as slow as they were. This was the third year there had been something between them, and it was amounting to sitting beside each other.

Before I could comment however, everyone fell silent as Professor McGonagall entered with a congregation of sopping wet eleven-year-olds. I watched as she set the hat upon a three-legged pedestal and waited for it to sing. After six years, a singing hat wasn't as unbelievable as it had once been, although still pretty phenomenal.

"That one looks as if she might faint," George snickered, leaning over and pointing in the direction of a very paled faced girl.

"Hey George, I bet he'll be sorted into Hufflepuff," Lee whispered back.

"What about the kid rolling his eyes?" Fred added, indicating to a boy who looked like the hat was wasting his time.

"Who is that kid?" Ange asked incredulously.

"Obviously destined for Slytherin," Katie answered.

We all snickered.

Once McGonagall started calling forward the students, the seven of us would quietly announce which house we thought the hat would choose for them. At the end, Katie was the winner with ten correct guesses. Alicia and Angelina were next with seven. I was tied with George for five, whereas Fred had gotten four and Lee ending up with two.

Thankfully, Dumbledore kept his tradition and announced the feast before he gave his announcements. Like always, I was astounded with the number of dishes that appeared before us. I made a mental note to go and visit Posy and Dobby sometime this week.

It was always a hassle to try and get any food nearby with the twins piling everything onto their plate. Thankfully, the house elves always made an inordinate amount of food and I was able to put roast beef with steaming gravy, cabbage soup, and hot cross buns onto my plate. The food filled my body with warmth as I felt the chill ebb away. Ange also poured me a cup of tea which I used to chase down my food. By the end, I was content and finally felt comfortable enough from the rain. The desserts had also been as wonderful as ever, meaning that I had had an extra serving of carrot cake.

By the time Dumbledore returned to the podium in front of the staff table, everyone was stuffed and content. Or at least until he announced that the quidditch season was cancelled.

"What the f-"

"Fred!" I reached over and swatted him on the shoulder.

I could sympathize with his frustration; I knew how much quidditch meant to all of my friends. But I could also see McGonagall sending him a stern look, most likely due to the volume of his outburst. I figured a detention within the first hour of being at Hogwarts was one record he didn't need to break.

But before Dumbledore could continue with his announcements, hopefully explaining why quidditch had been cancelled for the entire season, an intimidating looking man entered the Great Hall.

"That's Mad-Eye Moody," George whispered in awe as the entire school stared at the intriguing newcomer.

"Is that the one your father mentioned this morning?" I asked, remembering that Mr. Weasley had left the Burrow early this morning to help this supposed man with some rogue garbage cans; or at least I think that's what Charlie had said.

Fred nodded as the man walked to the front of the hall.

"I would like to announce the newest member of our faculty here at Hogwarts and the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody," Professor Dumbledore said as the bedraggled looking man stood beside him holding what looked like a wooden staff.

As I looked at the newest teacher and thanked Merlin Snape hadn't gotten the opened position, I couldn't help thinking this man looked like a toad. His face was rough, with scars in every direction. His career as an auror definitely showed, and I didn't know if that meant he was good at it or not.

"As I was saying," Professor Dumbledore continued once Professor Moody had taken his seat where Remus had sat last year. "This year Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament."

"YOU'RE JOKING!" Fred replied loud enough that McGonagall fixed him another withering stare.

I knew that by the end of the night, Fred would be handed a detention.

However, Professor Dumbledore took it with humour and responded by almost telling the school a joke. But before he got too off topic, the headmaster cleared his throat and continued with his original announcement.

By the end of Dumbledore's speech, Fred and George had wild looks in their eyes. Apparently, the new age restriction was only a minor setback for the twins trying out and persuading this ominous impartial judge for them to qualify.

"You know Marnie, you'll be seventeen by October," George said as I walked back with him, Fred, Neville, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Yes, I'm aware," I responded simply.

I didn't want to admit that I had been thinking about that particular fact since Dumbledore had announced it.

"Ow!" George exclaimed as Fred elbowed him in the ribs and gave his twin a withering look.

"Do you know how many times Marnie has almost died in the last six years?" Fred whispered vehemently to George.

George gave his brother some pause but shrugged. If his best friend wanted to go out for the glory, he wasn't going to be the one to stand in her way. George then looked over at Marnie who was having a lively discussion with Harry and Ron about entering the competition, thankfully meaning she hadn't heard Fred's panicked whispers.

"I would root for you Ron!" Marnie said ecstatically to Ron who was rambling on about competing if he was of age.

George also didn't miss the deep blush cross his younger brother's face from Marnie's answer. He shook his head; Marnie really didn't know the effect she had on people, Weasley's in particular.

Once they all got back to the common room, Marnie and Hermione bid everyone goodnight as they headed up to the girl's dormitories.

"Harry, you wouldn't want Marnie competing, would you?" Fred asked pointedly.

Harry shrugged. "She's my older sister mate, it's not like I can forbid her or anything. Plus, she's one of the bravest people I know, I think she would have a good shot."

George smiled heartily at Harry before rallying his sulking twin up the stairs.

"It's not like I don't have faith in her, I just want to protect her," Fred said quietly as they made their way up.

"I know Freddie, but maybe to do one you have to let go of the other," George answered honestly.

Fred frowned some more but nodded along. George could only hope his advice had gotten through his twin's stubbornly thick skull.

XXX

"What's your schedule say for today?" Angelina asked as we all received our timetables from McGonagall the next morning.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Defense," I said before grabbing some cereal and milk.

"It looks like we've all got Moody!" Lee said excitedly.

I was intrigued at finding out about this new teacher that Mr. Weasley obviously thought highly of, but I was a little jaded with Remus being replaced.

"I guess I'll see you guys after first period," I said once I finished my breakfast and headed out to the grounds.

The boys all luckily had a free period whereas the girls had arithmancy. I was the only one who had gotten an OWL in Care of Magical Creatures. I was also fairly surprised by this considering I didn't think tending to a unicorn foal had been that difficult.

As I headed out, I was thankful yesterday's downpour had ended. There also weren't too many sixth years taking the elective, but I smiled when I saw a blonde-haired boy standing beside a pen with the rest of the students.

I sidled up beside Cedric who turned his attention when he saw my approach.

"Good morning Marnie," he said as he put his hand in mine.

"Good morning Ced," I replied before turning to look into the pen everyone else was circling around.

"What are those?" I asked, both intrigued and skeptical.

I had never seen a creature like one of these, and it definitely wasn't in the text book _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them._

"I was hoping you had the answer to that," Cedric answered woefully.

These creatures looked like an engorged snail with pincers. I was intrigued at seeing a new creature, especially one outside of the Ministry approved curriculum. But I was also slightly worried of their safety ranking as well.

"Ger Mornin'," Hagrid announced as he stepped out of his hut.

"Erm, Hagrid. What exactly are these?" I asked, taking initiative to ask the question on everyone's mind.

"Blast-Ended Skrewts," Hagrid answered proudly.

I knew there was no creature Hagrid would ever find less than fascinating.

"What are we supposed to do with them?" Cedric's friend Liam asked.

"Raise 'em o' course," Hagrid said excitedly.

Everyone looked back into the pen with high levels of skepticism. I had to admit that they were producing a pretty foul odour and a large amount of slime.

"Go ahead and pick one," Hagrid directed.

"After you mi 'lady," Cedric said in a lame attempt to cover his cowardice.

"I thought you travelled the world finding dangerous creatures with your father," I replied coolly.

"I do!" he answered rather defensively. "But I am at least familiar with those creatures."

I shook my head and made my way to the gate to enter the pen. However, feeling now that he had something to prove, Cedric jogged ahead of me and grabbed two of the small little guys.

"Here," he said triumphantly as he quickly dumped one of them into my arms.

"Eurgh!" I exclaimed, now getting a face full of the pungent odour.

I nearly dropped it onto the ground but managed to quickly set him down from a lower height.

I heard some laughter from nearby. I looked up with a glare as I now realized Marcus Flint had somehow managed to pass his OWL in Care of Magical Creatures.

"I figured you would have one of these as a pet," Flint remarked with the same malicious stare he always saved for me.

"Better than having Death Eaters for parents," I quipped back without missing a beat.

His smirk fell instantly, turning into a spiteful glare.

"You'll pay for your traitorous words!" Flint exclaimed as he made his way towards me.

I noticed his hand in the pocket of his robe and assumed he was reaching for his wand. I already knew Hagrid had gone into his hut to collect the food supplies we were supposed to be trying to feed the skrewts. In response I reached for my own wand, prepared to defend myself.

However, Cedric was in front of me with his own wand poised before I could inhale my next breath.

"I am giving you one chance to stand down and turn back," Cedric said evenly.

The smirk returned to Flint's face as he sized up Cedric, deciding if he could take him on. But I readily stood on his one side while Liam joined in on the other.

"Pretty boy here saved your neck, squib," Flint spat as he looked at me with a vicious glare.

"Never threaten Marnie again. I'm sure Dumbledore would love an update on the situation where you were told not to harass any of the other students," Cedric said pointedly.

Flint's frown deepened before he turned away in a huff and returned to the other side of the grounds.

"I really don't like him," Liam piped in as he watched Flint return to one of his fellow Slytherins.

"No one really does," I said evenly.

Cedric looked over and gave me a meaningful look.

"Aghhh!" Cedric exclaimed before I could reassure him that I was fine.

Cedric immediately lifted his foot into his hands and hopped around in pain.

"It blasted me!" he said indignantly before he hopped behind me.

Liam was laughing incessantly. "Maybe you should rethink trying out for the Triwizard Tournament if you're going to hide behind Marnie after only being stung by this little creature."

Cedric scowled at Liam, probably for more than one reason.

"I was going to tell you," Cedric started as he set down his foot, trying a little pressure first to make sure it could take his weight.

"I assumed that," I replied simply.

Class was soon dismissed after we had all wrangled up our skrewts and deposited them back into the pen.

Cedric walked me back to the castle before he made his own way to Potions.

"Liam and I only discussed it last night after the announcement," Cedric started.

I could hear that he felt guilty about me finding out his interest in competing through Liam.

"Cedric, it's fine, honestly," I reassured him.

"Well, are you going to try out?" he asked.

"Erm, I think so," I said in a softer voice.

I hadn't actually said it out loud, even though I knew Angelina was also trying out as well as the twins' hair-brained plan.

"You should," Cedric said confidently.

I looked up and smiled at his assurance in me. He kissed me on the cheek, lingering a little before he stepped away and headed down to the dungeons.

"Are you ready for this?" Lee asked excitedly when I found my seat in between Angelina and Fred.

Our group of seven were all seated in our usual corner as we waited for Professor Moody to enter.

"I'm still faithful to Remus," I said stubbornly, not admitting that I was curious of this new teacher.

Ange put her hand over mine in solidarity before we heard the sounds of a wooden cane coming down the stairs.

"Books away," Professor Moody said gruffly.

I could feel the palpable excitement already as everyone eagerly shoved their books back into their rucksacks.

"I understand that you have had some questionable teachers throughout your school career," he started which made my fist clench on the table.

Angelina squeezed my hand again.

Yes, Quirrell-Voldemort was bad and there was nothing worse than Lockhart, but Remus had been exceptional.

"The world is different than those non-sense text books. Preparation is key when fighting against dark wizards."

I could tell everyone was hanging off his every word.

"Now, who can tell me the three Unforgiveable Curses?" he asked as my breath hitched in my throat.

I could feel Fred's gaze, but I kept looking at the front of the class. I had only ever told Fred and George about trying to cast the Cruciatus curse last year; and then there was my mother.

However, Lee's hand shot up into the air to answer.

"What's your name boy?" Moody asked as he called on Lee.

"Jordan sir, Lee Jordan," he answered proudly.

"Jordan, and what curse do you know?" Moody asked again.

I had already retrieved my hand from Angelina's since it had started to sweat.

"The Cruciatus curse sir," Lee responded eagerly.

I felt my ears start to grow hot, probably because my vision was becoming unfocused and my mind foggy.

"Ah yes, let me show you," Moody said boldly, and I must have heard him wrong.

But Lee's frightened gasp told me otherwise.

"On the insect Jordan," Moody explained, and I noticed he was in fact holding some kind of bug.

" _Crucio!"_ I heard Moody say just before my mind took over.

I could see Sirius standing in front of me with that pained look that haunted my nightmares.

" _You have to mean it."_

Then my vision swirled again, making me dizzy and nauseous.

 _"Squib lover thinks she can save him. She knows too much…"_ I heard a muffled voice which I remembered from one of my dreams; or maybe it was when the dementors came…

My world was still spinning as I snapped back to reality and bolted from the classroom. I barely made it to the lavatory before I vomited up the contents of my breakfast. When I finally stood up, I unlatched the door and made my way over to the sink. I forced myself to look into the mirror and hated in that moment that I felt I was looking at my mother's reflection.

I splashed some cold water onto my face and tried my best to put myself back together. I wanted to try and redeem some of my dignity after being the sixth year who puked in class the first day back. When I re-entered though everyone else was collecting their things.

"You okay Marnie?" Angelina asked as she handed me my rucksack.

I nodded before taking it from her.

"O'Hara?" I heard my name being called from the front of the classroom.

"I'll meet up with you guys," I said, trying to reassure my friends.

They all looked skeptical but made their way out, most likely heading for lunch.

"No doubt the lesson reminded you of Lena," Professor Moddy said bluntly in his gruff voice.

I couldn't hide my flinch and sat down as the roiling nausea returned.

"Yes, my mother was tortured," I said as evenly as I could muster.

"She was a bold woman," he said, with what I assumed was his variation of kindness.

I nodded and accepted the tea Professor Moody had in his outstretched hand.

"I bet everyone tells you that you look just like her," he continued as I nodded again, unable to say anything.

"Well, you would do best to learn from her," Moody finished before walking over to a cabinet along the side of the classroom.

"Thank-you professor," I said quickly before setting down the tea and silently stepping out of the classroom as his back was turned.

I decided, that once the nausea settled, I would write home asking about this Mad-Eye Moody and how he knew my mum.


	49. Imperious Curse

I ended up sending a letter to Sirius, asking about Professor Moody since I figured he would give me the most straightforward answer. I also wanted to check in with him, as well as ask about the strange voice in my head.

Once my stomach had settled after the first Defense class, I had those same whispers in my head saying that _the squib-lover knew too much_. I had finally remembered hearing those same whispers before I passed out during the dementor attack at the end of the year.

"I can't believe Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret!" Lee exclaimed for the dozenth time that night.

It had been a week since the incident and Lee was all but erecting a shrine in Moody's name.

"We know Lee," Katie said as kindly as she could while patting her hand on his knee.

We all agreed it had been the best thing to ever happen in our time at Hogwarts, however it was all Lee ever talked about.

I also felt bad for not warning Neville about the Unforgiveable Curse demonstration, but thankfully he had at least kept down his breakfast. Unfortunately, I was now under the worried monitoring of Fred with copious check-ins from Harry.

I was honestly thankful when Cedric asked to meet up one night after dinner.

"Had a long week?" Cedric asked when he saw me approach.

"Not my best first few weeks back," I replied honestly with a shrug.

"So, where's this wonderful place you wanted to take me tonight?" he asked gleefully, obviously wanting to brighten my mood.

"Follow me," I answered with my most mischievous grin.

"The Statue of the One-Eyed Witch?" Cedric asked in a bemused yet skeptical tone when we came to the third-floor corridor.

"Do you trust me?" I asked playfully before showing him the tunnel.

His smile changed to a more serious look. "With my life."

"Well, then we best keep you alive," I replied, wanting to keep things light.

Sometimes I didn't know what to say when Cedric went all serious and told me point blank how he felt. I always admired how honest he was, but sometimes his sudden declarations took me by surprise.

I then proceeded to shimmy behind the statue and heard an audible gasp from behind me.

"You know I am a Prefect," Cedric said only half-jokingly as he followed me into the hidden passageway.

"A little mischief won't hurt you, or that shiny badge of yours," I replied ruefully before grabbing his hand and leading him away from the school.

Once we came to the familiar trap door, I paused and brought my finger to my mouth in a silencing motion. Cedric looked at me with widened eyes but was probably too surprised to say anything anyways.

After a few moments I was confident the storekeeper was gone for the night and carefully opened the hatch to invite ourselves in. I saw Cedric's torn expression, as he looked back at the safety of the passageway versus not wanting to be left alone. After a second of contemplation he followed after me into the candy shop.

"We're in Honeydukes!" Cedric exclaimed after taking in his surroundings.

"Yup!" I said proudly while I went over to investigate the toffees.

"Are you actually getting something?" Cedric asked when he saw me reach into the blueberry flavoured toffee bin.

"Of course," I replied easily, filling up a small paper bag.

Cedric eyed me carefully before breaking out into a widened grin. I watched him head over to the display of candied wands before I turned around and headed to the chocolate frogs.

Once we had our fill I dug into my pocket and laid the correct change on the counter.

"Hey, I can pay," Cedric said with chivalry dripping from his voice.

"Stand down Ced, this was my idea, it's my treat," I replied smoothly before leading him back through the trap door.

"That was brilliant!" Cedric exclaimed as we came back towards the statue.

"I'm glad you think so. But under no circumstance are you to bring Liam or anyone else down here," I said a little too harshly.

"I promise," Cedric replied softly before grabbing for my arm and bringing me into his chest.

I giggled as I stumbled over my own feet. When he brought his lips to mine, I couldn't stop the sigh from escaping mine or the small groan that unceremoniously came from the back of my throat. I realized that Cedric had dropped his bag of sweets to the ground when I heard a thump on the stone floor. This meant that both of his hands were free to run up my back into my loose hanging hair. I felt as his fingers looped around my hair and circled their way back down to the crook of my neck. They were delicate and warm, and sent inexplicable shivers throughout my body.

By the time Cedric pulled away I knew I was completely flushed.

"I'll escort you back to your tower, mi 'lady?" Cedric asked, attempting to compose himself with his gentlemanly suave.

I laughed out loud but nonetheless took his outstretched arm. He picked up his candy bag and offered me a raspberry flavoured wand before sneakily leading us out of the passageway.

It was thankfully just before curfew, and it also helped to be dating a prefect who the professors actually trusted.

Cedric had joked that I was too mischievous to have gotten the badge this year. I think it had been a way to make himself feel better since I had laughed at him the first time I saw it adorning his robes.

"I had a great time tonight Marnie," Cedric said once we were in front of the Fat Lady portrait.

"I'm glad," I said a little smugly before leaning in to give him a good night kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said before giving the fat lady the password.

I heard Cedric bidding me goodnight as I walked through and entered to see that most of my friends had already gone upstairs.

Fred and George were sitting off in a corner, surprisingly hunched over a piece of parchment. It was an odd sight, since I knew it obviously wasn't homework. But before I could join them, the twins both stood up and bid everyone remaining in the common room goodnight. I watched as they left, a little stung they hadn't confided in me the problem they were obviously mulling over.

Huffily, I waved at Harry, Ron and Hermione who were the only ones left in the common room before going upstairs. Once I entered the sixth-year dormitory, the other three were already asleep. I pulled out my pyjamas but stopped on my way to the lavatory when I heard a tapping on the window. I looked over to surprisingly see Caelum with a letter attached to his leg. I rushed over and unlatched the window before excitedly taking the letter. In return I looked around for any type of snack for Caelum but had to turn the owl away empty-handed. He did not take this kindly. I shook my hand which Caelum had just nipped as I unrolled the letter in the other.

 _Marnie,_

 _I have also been in touch with Harry. In response to all of the rumours I have heard, including Harry's scar hurting and your 'memory' I am decidedly travelling north. As for Mad-Eye, he is an invaluable ally. I am not surprised he mentioned your mother, they were once well acquainted. I'll be in contact soon and give my best to the twins. Remember, keep your friends close._

 _Sirius_

I read and re-read the brief scrawl as both excitement and anxiety filled my mind. I had not intended to worry Sirius so much for him to move from hiding. And with no mention of Remus, I now had many more questions I wanted to ask.

I stowed the letter under my pillow, deciding to confide in both the twins and Harry in the morning. Of course, Harry would be in a panic by now, assuming he had just received similar news.

When I came down to breakfast the next morning, Harry whispered his plan to send another letter to Sirius assuring him he did not in fact need to come out of hiding. Despite selfishly wanting to see Sirius, not that I knew how that would be accomplished, I agreed that it would be best if he remained in hiding with Remus. I also tried to question Harry about his scar hurting, but he wasn't very forthcoming. I already knew he had been having strange dreams about Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew, probably two of the foulest wizards to ever walk the Earth. And, much like me, I knew how irritating repeating and vague dreams could be. I had told Harry that it might be some kind of warning, much like my dreams seemed to be. He had taken my advice, but I knew he was just mostly frustrated with them.

I also divulged the letter to the twins who had thought it wickedly awesome that Sirius was 'on the lam'. Apparently, they had heard their father use the phrase after reading a muggle crime novel. However, after receiving our letters, Harry nor I had heard anything else from Sirius. I diligently read Hermione's Daily Prophet to make sure he hadn't been captured, but we both knew if he did it would be plastered on the front page.

Other than that, classes, friends and everything else proceeded in a calmer routine. The school was still buzzing over the Triwizard Tournament announcement, especially as my birthday passed and October came. And even though I still felt a little apprehensive about the content of Moody's lectures, I began to appreciate the realness of his teachings.

"Books away," we heard the familiar gruff voice order everyone as Moody clanged down the staircase into the classroom.

"I love hearing those words," Lee praised as he threw his textbook back into his rucksack.

I noticed Katie give him a wry smile before I turned my attention to Moody who was now standing at the front of the class.

"Today, you'll be tested on the Imperious curse," Moody said with what I thought was a smirk.

"You're joking!" Fred said out loud, not for the first time this term.

However, Moody just eyed Fred before waving him up to the front of the class.

Fred unsteadily got out of his seat and headed for the front of the class.

"It's illegal, though," Alicia piped up with concern filling her voice.

I just watched after Fred with both nervous anticipation and curiosity. Of course, I dreaded any mention of the Three Unforgiveable Curses for what it had done to my and Harry's life. However, I had never actually pictured being victim to one of them. And this seemed like the safest of the three impossible options.

"I thought it more prudent to prepare you for what's really out there. To add to your constant vigilance by recognizing what it feels like to be under someone else's control. But, if you would rather find out the hard way, you may leave," Moody answered definitively.

Alicia shrunk back and shook her head, staying rooted in her seat. I remembered back to our conversation in second year where we had discussed Voldemort returning, right after I told all my friends about my mum. Alicia had been the most skeptical. I was happy enough to see her stay, especially after the recent Death Eater congregation at the Quidditch World Cup. It showed that evil was always capable of rising up and that we had to be ready.

I looked back to Fred who was looking anxiously at Moody.

" _Imperio!"_ Moody said as he swished his wand towards Fred.

I watched as Fred's anxious grimace changed to one of elation. His face almost reminded me of when he had first seen the veela at the World Cup. A look of confidence and delight as Moody made him go up onto his tiptoes and pirouette in graceful circles. I heard Lee and several others break out into laughter while I looked on with awe and terror. There was no way Fred was capable of being that graceful, but that all changed when someone else was in control of his faculties.

Once Fred finished and returned to his seat beside me, he looked conflicted.

"It's sort of amazing," Fred said.

"What do you mean?" I asked with high skepticism.

"You just feel content, like you can do anything," he explained.

"Well, that's not a lie," I said worriedly as I turned back to see George doing a handstand at the front of the class.

By the time it was my turn, I felt apprehensive, but not like I did when I had seen the Cruciatus curse performed.

I walked up to the front where everyone else had stood and looked at Moody as he raised his wand.

" _Imperio,"_ I heard him say before a feeling of weightlessness took over.

It was as if the tips of my fingers and toes were now attached to invisible strings. It was nice to feel like I didn't have to make any effort to move or make decisions.

"Do a somersault," I heard the voice in my head say.

I felt the invisible string pull from the top of my head.

" _Wait, that's not my voice,"_ I thought, causing a surge of panic to run through my body.

As a result, I crashed down, landing face first onto the ground.

"O'Hara's got it!" Moody exclaimed proudly as I rubbed the top of my now sore head.

"But I fell on the ground," I said grumpily, now feeling the bump already beginning.

"Yes, but you fought back!" Moody said encouragingly.

Unfortunately, as a reward I was put through the curse six more times until I was finally able to cast it off completely. By the time I returned to my desk, I put my head down and just waited for the rest of class to be over. I felt Angelina put her hand on my back as a show of comfort, but I just closed my eyes and waited for the splitting headache to go away from my first attempt at the somersault.

I was later led out of class by my friends towards the Great Hall for supper. I was still achy but yearned for the lasagna which I could already smell wafting from the kitchens.

"Look!" Angelina exclaimed excitedly as she pulled me towards a posted announcement which I saw several other students crowding around.

"The delegates get here next week!" Alicia cried out which made me grimace at her volume due to the still slight pounding in my head.

My friends excitedly entered the Great Hall as they all chattered on about the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

We passed by Harry and his friends who were no doubt also talking about the announcement.

"But seriously, could you imagine that idiot as Hogwarts champion?" I heard Ron ask indignantly.

"And which idiot might this be?" I asked as I watched his face turn bright red.

"Erm, no one," Ron mumbled bashfully.

"Yes Ron, who were you talking about?" Hermione asked pointedly.

I responded to her reaction by crossing my arms and staring at him with an impatient look.

"I was- I was talking about Cedric," Ron finally confessed.

I saw Harry grimace at Ron for being found out while Hermione dawned a look of self-righteousness.

"Right," I said before quickly turning around and heading for the Hufflepuff table.

This meant I missed Ginny fiercely stomping on Ron's foot or George whacking him over the head.

But I was just tired from being put through the Imperious curse, tired of worrying about Sirius, and utterly finished with hearing my friends condescend Cedric. I loved him, and that ought to be enough.


	50. Champions

**Disclaimer: More steamy moments to come.**

 **Things are really kicking off with this chapter so I am excited to be putting it up.**

 **XXXXXX**

"Nicely done, O'Hara," Professor McGonagall exclaimed when I was the first to transfigure my raccoon.

Angelina, who was sitting beside me, gave me a pat on the back, while the other girls rolled up their sleeves to give it another go. Surprisingly, the twins both gave me a grin, probably because they weren't taking the lesson very seriously.

"Want to watch the arrival of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons together?" Fred asked, in sort of an odd tone.

"Of course we are, why would you even have to ask?" I looked at him quizzically.

He only shrugged and turned back to George who had also now transfigured his raccoon.

"What was that all about with Fred?" Alicia asked me hours later as the four of us girls walked to the front hall to await directions from McGonagall.

"No idea." I said with a shrug.

I thought about Fred's behaviour over the past while, and I realized I couldn't pinpoint when I had noticed it change.

"Have you noticed he's been acting a little odd?" I asked, deciding I wanted a second opinion.

"It's just Fred, he's never been what one would call normal," Angelina answered casually.

Her answer was very reassuring and all I needed to hear to brush off the thoughts that were tickling the back of my mind.

Of course, I would always be best friends with Fred, nothing would ever change that.

"Hare!" I heard Fred then, standing near the front of the congregation of students.

We went to join him, as he was already standing with Lee and George.

"Look at you, all dressed up for the visitors," Fred said as I watched him notice my pink cashmere sweater and black denims.

I could feel my tactless blush flare up, but I flattened my new sweater and stood tall. I had never been one for fashion, accessorizing or really putting much effort into clothing. But I felt if I was going to be one to put my name forward for the tournament, I might as well present myself well. Angelina had also put in some effort with a deep green blouse and brown corduroys.

"Well, you at least put more effort in than your brother," I retorted, just after hearing McGonagall call out Ron for his crooked hat.

Fred chuckled before we were all led out to the front of the school to await the two other school delegations.

"Any final guesses?" Fred asked, me already knowing what he meant.

We had all been discussing how the schools would arrive. Lee was certain Durmstrang would arrive on the backs of dragons.

"I still think brooms makes the most sense," I replied, knowing I was probably wrong.

But how else were they supposed to arrive, if not by train like the rest of us.

"In the sky!" we all heard one of the students call out.

I looked up to see what was impossibly a flying carriage. It was also drawn by several large, flying horses. I couldn't stop my mouth from dropping as I watched the vehicle land. It was all so exciting to watch the situation unfold as several girls wearing matching sky blue uniforms exited the carriage which must have had an extending charm put on it. But, most amazingly was the woman who exited the carriage last. She was noticeably taller than Hagrid which was a terrific feat. She was lovely, striking and largely intimidating as she was welcomed personally by Dumbledore who had gone up to greet her.

However, I was brought back from my gaze when Lee shouted from beside me.

"Look at the lake!" he said which made the seven of us jump and follow the direction of his pointed finger.

Sure enough, the Black Lake was gurgling as if it were about to erupt into a whirlpool. Instead, the mast of a ship rose out of the depths until the grand boat was completely out of the water.

It was incredible, just as exciting as the flying carriage. This time, several boys exited the boat wearing red uniforms which looked like they were made out of wool with fur lined cloaks.

"No way!" Fred exclaimed as all my other friends went on their tiptoes to get a better look at the last boy who exited.

"It's Viktor Krum!" Lee bellowed as everyone watched the seeker who had caught the snitch at the World Cup.

After the new arrivals were escorted into the castle, McGonagall efficiently rounded up all of the Gryffindors to head into the Great Hall for a welcoming feast.

"I didn't realize he was still of school age," Katie said excitedly.

I could see Lee sharing her excitement with a slight pause on whether he should worry about his girlfriend ogling a star quidditch player. But Katie was certainly not the only one who was taken by him.

"I bet they'll sit with Slytherin," Angelina said as we found our usual seats.

"Why would say that?" George asked a little exasperatedly.

"Well, they do all look a little straight-faced and surly," she said matter-of-factly.

We watched as the red-cloaked boys wandered awkwardly around the Great Hall. Sure enough, they edged over until they decidedly sat down with the green-cloaked students. I also didn't miss the highly smug look adorn Marcus Flint's face.

"What about Beauxbatons?" Lee piped up.

This time, it was Katie's turn to look a little worriedly at Lee who was watching the blue-adorned girls almost flutter around until they sat with their colour-kin; Ravenclaw.

When everyone was settled, Dumbledore announced the feast and I watched as several unfamiliar dishes appeared.

"What is all this?" George asked, as he questioningly took a scoop of some sort of stew.

I was more forward, being raised to always eat whatever was put in front of me.

"It's delicious," I said after I had swallowed my first gulp.

This seemed to be enough confirmation for my friends who all took a helping.

Fred was pretty obvious he wasn't a fan of the new dish; however, I was surprised when he continued and emptied his bowl. I looked at him with a questioning look, but he only returned with a smile.

Soon after, the dishes disappeared, and a palpable excitement fell over everyone. Dumbledore stood up and announced the two newcomers, Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch. I didn't miss the mischievous look pass over Fred and George's faces when they laid eyes on Bagman.

Dumbledore then proceeded to explain that one delegate from each school will be chosen. There will also be three events in which the champions compete in order to win the tournament at the end of term.

I looked over at Angelina who shared a small, knowing look. We were both excited at the possibility of representing Hogwarts as champion.

At this point, Dumbledore requested that a casket be brought in, and all of a sudden, I was scared. But Dumbledore chuckled and didn't seem phased as Filch pulled in a wooden box.

"The Goblet of Fire," Dumbledore declared as the casket magically opened and revealed a large, golden cup. "One must put their name on a piece of parchment if they wish to put themselves forward. Tomorrow night, the champions will be chosen, and the tournament will officially begin. And I must make myself clear, that there will be an age line put around the goblet should anyone underage attempt to try and hoodwink our impartial judge."

I also didn't miss Dumbledore's gaze as it landed on both Fred and George. Unfortunately, I knew this would not dissuade them from any scheme they were already planning.

After the announcements were finished, everyone stood up in a bustle of excitement.

Fred and George had gone ahead, and I could hear them asking if Harry and Ron were going to try and put their names in the goblet.

"Stop worrying, they won't be able to get past the age line," Angelina said as she held pace beside me.

"Which one?" I asked, not knowing who I didn't want more to be in the tournament; probably Harry.

"Any of them," Ange replied assuredly.

"Are you still going for it?" I asked, deciding to believe in her reassurance.

"Yes, are you?"

"Yea, I still haven't talked myself out of it," I replied.

"You shouldn't. You would be a great champion!" Ange said more confidently than I felt.

I mean sure, I am an above average student and I feel I have strong skills, now including fighting off the _Imperious_ curse. But I also know Angelina is an amazing chaser, also an above average student and would also represent Hogwarts well. Not to mention, my seeker boyfriend who would fit the bill as well. I didn't know who else would put their name in, but honestly by this point, I was just hoping it wasn't a Slytherin.

"What's the hold up?" Katie asked, who was standing behind me and Angelina with Alicia and Lee.

I looked up and could make out the gruff sounds of Moody's voice.

"Durmstrang's headmaster stopped to gawk at Harry," Fred explained from ahead and I rolled my eyes.

I knew Harry hated any attention having to do with his 'fame'. Of course, no one in their right mind wants to be recognized for the day their parents died.

As I tried to fall asleep that night, I tried to picture what sort of challenges the champions would have to face. The last thing I thought of was that hopefully, if I was chosen, I wouldn't have to try and tame an entire herd of blast-ended skrewts.

XXX

"Oi, sod off!" I howled, feeling a beating of a pillow on my face.

My eyes unwillingly shot open and I saw Angelina already dressed, standing over me. She had a wide grin and threw some clothing at me.

"Get up! I don't want to miss anything!" Ange exclaimed before going over and bashing Alicia over the head.

The annoyance I felt was immediately replaced with excitement. Today was the day the champions would get chosen.

Ten minutes later I was hastily ready and leaving the dormitory with Angelina. Alicia had grumpily buried herself under her blankets and Katie had given a rude hand gesture that told us she was not leaving the comfort of her bed this early.

Although, when we got downstairs, there were several early risers watching for those who entered their name. Angelina and I paused at the entrance of the Great Hall and looked at the impressive looking goblet.

"Good morning ladies," Cedric said as he came to stand on my other side. "You missed your boys attempt to enter."

"What boys?" I asked skeptically.

"The twins and Lee Jordan. About ten minutes ago they were ushered away to the hospital wing to get rid of their beards. Well, I think it may have just been the twins who entered, and Lee just escorted them," Cedric finished with a shrug.

Angelina and I shared a look before we both rolled our eyes.

"Why do we hang out with them again?" Ange asked half sarcastically.

I just laughed before Cedric handed us each a piece of parchment.

"May the best student win?" Cedric said goadingly.

Ange gave him a fixed stare before shaking his outstretched hand.

"You're on Diggory," she said.

I also took a piece of parchment from Cedric and took out my wand to address it with my name. Professor Flitwick had just taught us a signature charm and I was excited for this to be the first instance I used it.

"Good luck Mar," Cedric whispered before kissing me and then walking after Ange towards the goblet.

I looked up and saw people cheering for Ange and then Cedric. I followed suit as they both watched with encouraging smiles. A round of unexpected applause roared once I tossed my name into the flame which was now licking blue. I felt a swell of pride for myself as well as my friend and boyfriend who I think would all be excellent champions for Hogwarts. Cedric then took my hand and walked me out where we found Harry sitting with the other fourth years.

"You entered?" Harry asked with evident excitement.

"We all did," I answered, indicating to Ange and Cedric.

"That's brilliant. Two Gryffindors in the running!" Ron said triumphantly.

"Good luck then, the both of you," Harry said, he too ignoring Cedric's presence.

I went over and hugged him before letting Cedric lead me away. We headed down towards the kitchens, Cedric thinking we were heading to his common room.

"Here," I said, stopping at the portrait of the fruit.

I tickled the pear and lead him into the bustle of the kitchen.

"How did I not know this was here?" Cedric asked in an exasperated tone.

"It pays to not be prefect material," I said proudly before I heard a familiar voice.

"Marnee!" I heard Posy squeal before taking my hand and bringing me to the table in the corner.

"Hello Posy!" I greeted excitedly.

"Who is this handsome boy? No Mr. Wheezies today?" she asked almost smugly.

Who knew house elves could be devious?

"This is Cedric, Cedric, this is Posy," I introduced the two.

Cedric shook Posy's hand which seemed to delight her.

"Posy bring Miss Marnee and Mr. Ceedric a special breakfast," she said with a wink before scurrying back into the kitchens.

"She is something else," I said while looking fondly after Posy.

"I want to show you something afterwards," Cedric said with a mischievous grin.

"It can't be better than my secret places," I said, this being the second Hogwarts secret I had shown him.

"We'll see," he replied smugly just as Posy came back with steaming hot chocolates and carrot cake.

We enjoyed our meal with the casual doting from Posy. Even Dobby came to introduce himself before Posy shooed him away.

"Alright, where is this place that is better than mine?" I asked as Cedric led me back through the castle and up the stairs.

Cedric just looked at me with a smile before continuing up. We got off on the fifth floor and were now stopped in front of a statue.

"Boris the Bewildered?" I asked skeptically.

"Hey, you brought me to the One-Eyed Witch," Cedric retorted playfully.

"Fair enough."

"Bubbles," Cedric said randomly.

"Excuse me?" I asked, worried he was now losing his mind.

But before he could answer, the statue shifted to uncover a secret doorway.

"Hogwarts never gets any less incredible," I said in awe.

Cedric took my hand and led me inside to a very ornate looking room. It had white walls with golden designs emblazoned everywhere. It looked as if it belonged in a palace, and in the center was a large swimming pool.

"What is this place?" I asked breathlessly.

"The prefect bathroom. Not to shabby for prefect material," Cedric replied smugly.

I stuck my tongue out at him before I watched him take off his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked with a nervous laugh.

"Going for a swim," he answered casually.

In no time Cedric was down to his knickers before jumping into the porcelain pool.

"Are you coming?" he asked, eyeing my layers of clothing.

"Turn around," I ordered, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Alright," Cedric replied without hesitation. He swam to the opposite edge of the pool and looked the other way.

I edged out of my clothes, nervous to jump in with only my knickers. I was very aware of my body which I had hardly ever been before. I also knew exactly what my father would say in this moment and it was not in any way supportive.

I kicked my denims off to the side and stood at the edge. I knew my face was flushed and I still had my arms wrapped around myself. Taking a deep breath, I plunged into the water before I could talk myself into leaving.

"Can I turn around?" Cedric asked kindly.

"Alright," I said, treading water in the middle of the pool.

Cedric turned around with a smile and took a couple strokes, so he was now treading water beside me.

I felt a nervous flutter in my stomach which immediately caused me to splash water at Cedric.

He sputtered in surprise before quickly retaliating. We swam around for awhile, trying to get away from each other. All of my self consciousness disappeared as I squealed in delight. I was utterly soaked by the end when Cedric put his arms up in surrender. I huffed proudly as I took his surrender as a forfeit.

Cedric swam over cautiously, not completely trusting that I wouldn't turn on him. He was close enough that I could hear his breath. This was probably because I was holding mine. He slowly wrapped his arms around me, making it difficult to continue treading. As a result, I slipped under and forgot to close my mouth. Cedric lifted me up and I sputtered water out of my throat. Cedric turned me over onto my back and swam me to the steps of the pool so I could sit without drowning.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Just needed to catch my breath," I croaked hoarsely.

"I can't have you dying on me. What if your name gets called tonight? I would have to gallantly take your place in your memory," he said with mocking chivalry.

I splashed him lightly in protest, but he stopped my hand by taking it into his. He then moved my hand to his shoulder before moving his own across my arm and then down my back. He enveloped me in an embrace, and I was aware again of my body and his.

"You are so beautiful," he murmured into my ear before bringing his mouth across to mine.

His lips were warm and filled me with a lightness that cast away my self-consciousness.

I found myself wanting more, more of him to fill me with this lightness that made me feel as if I were floating.

I don't know how long we sat there, snogging like our lives depended on it, until Cedric pulled away.

"I think we better get dried off," he said, sounding a little winded.

"Why?" I asked, feeling dazed.

"Because I don't want to miss whose name get's chosen," he replied cheerfully.

"It's that late already?" I asked skeptically.

He nodded and walked out of the water. Somehow, there was a stack of towels in the corner which were steamed and pressed.

"They're warm?" I said as Cedric handed one to me.

"Magic," he replied cheekily.

Once we were dressed, we headed out together towards the Great Hall.

"Good luck?" he asked once we were at the entrance.

"Good luck," I replied, kissing him on the cheek, and heading towards the Gryffindor table.

"Where have you been all day?" Alicia asked with a suspicious smile.

"With Cedric," I replied simply.

Thankfully, the Halloween feast appeared before I could get peppered with any more questions.

"Here you go Hare," Fred said from across the table.

He had a purple dyed candy apple in his hand, my favourite.

I took it from him happily before piling a mountain of sweet treats onto my plate.

Every few minutes though I found myself glancing at the front of the room at the Goblet of Fire. I didn't know if my nerves or excitement were winning out.

By the time the feast was swept away into thin air, every eye in the room was turned onto the goblet.

"I expect the Goblet of Fire is ready to make its announcement," Dumbledore said as he went to stand beside it.

I watched with bated breath as the once orange flames turned blue. After a moment, a parchment came twirling out of the flames.

"The first champion. From Durmstrang, congratulations Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore announced jovially.

The entire school erupted into applause as the famous quidditch player stoically stood up and walked towards the door near the staff table.

The applause continued as the goblet spit out another parchment.

"From Beauxbatons Academy, Fleur Delacour," Dumbledore continued.

I watched as the girl Ron had been ogling over stood up and followed where Krum had disappeared to.

The goblet roared to life again, and I held my breath as Dumbledore read who would be the Hogwarts champion.

"Cedric Diggory!" he exclaimed proudly.

I turned to watch my boyfriend stand up and head towards Dumbledore. He caught my eye, as if asking if I were alright with this decision. I smiled back, showing him how proud and excited I was for him. He returned his infectious smile and walked until he too disappeared through the door.

Of course, I had wanted to be champion, or to see Angelina get the mantel. But I was in no way disappointed to see Cedric get the honour.

The roaring applause carried on. Both Ginny and Angelina had hugged me since they were both sitting on either side of me. Surprisingly, Fred had even high fived me. I kept looking at him suspiciously, trying to figure out his motive, before Ginny tugged my sleeve.

I turned and saw she was pointing at the goblet. It had roared back to life and everyone was gasping in surprise.

Everyone watched as a fourth piece of paper emitted out of the flames.

Dumbledore grasped it out of the air and murmured to himself.

"Harry Potter," he finally exclaimed as his eyes cast over the crowd with worry.

"No," I gasped breathlessly, while I felt Ginny squeeze my hand with worry.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore said more loudly.

I turned my head to watch Hermione coax my adopted brother out of his seat.

He looked petrified but continued towards Dumbledore.

Silent tears fell down my face, a mixture of my surprise, anger, and terror of the situation. I was supposed to be the one to protect Harry. I had put my name in but had not gotten chosen, and now I would not be able to protect him in the challenges.

I watched as Harry too walked through the chamber door, now looking more like a void. Once he disappeared through it, I stood up.

I wanted more than anything to follow him through the door, but I saw Dumbledore catch my eye. He shook his head slightly, a gesture which I knew meant that he would deal with it.

Ginny pulled my back down and all I could think was that I had to put my faith in Dumbledore. Surely, he could get Harry out of this mess. Surely, he would not let my younger brother enter a dangerous competition to which he was too young.

The murmurs had already started as I watched Dumbledore disappear through the door with several of the other professors including Moody.

" _Please protect him."_


	51. Three Becomes Two

The following week was one of the worst of my life. My faith in Professor Dumbledore crumbled after finding out he had not been able to get Harry out of the tournament.

Since the feast, Harry now walked around like a ghost, defined by his haunted expression and lack of apparent sleep. We had also been spending most of our time together since everyone else was acting idiotic.

"Morning," I said when I saw Harry enter the common room.

He nodded and took the muffin that I had in my hand for him. Our arrangement all week had been that I would grab him breakfast and we would eat dinner together in the kitchens. Dobby was always ecstatic to see Harry which almost put a smile on his face at least.

I bent down to pick up my rucksack and heard a conversation that abruptly went quiet as the group walked past. I looked up to see Harry's dormmates, including Ron, walk past with awkward expressions. I didn't think Seamus, Dean or especially Neville had any issue with Harry as champion but Ron certainly did. I saw Ron's glower as his gaze moved from Harry onto me. I rolled my eyes and stood up, watching the group of boys leave.

"I wish he wouldn't take it out on you," Harry said sympathetically.

"He thinks I'm the one who put your name in the goblet," I said with a shrug before leading Harry out of the common room.

The night the champions had been announced had resulted in a lot of unexpected reactions. The twins hadn't readily believed me when I told them there was no way Harry had put his name in the goblet. They did eventually come around when they figured I would have put their names in as well. Angelina, Katie and Alicia were non-plussed since they were more excited about having a Gryffindor champion in the mix, no matter the cause for the situation. Ron was the one who completed my strung-out mood that night when he accused me of entering Harry's name. Fred had come to my aid, saying that if I had entered Harry's name, I would have extended the same courtesy to him and George. Ron had just brushed off his older brother and walked away. He still hadn't said a word to me since that night.

The next morning, I had felt isolated, with only Hermione and Ginny really understanding my level of concern. I had been relieved to see Cedric and congratulated him for being selected champion. However, he had also questioned how Harry had managed to get his name into the goblet. This led to me storming away, being completely exacerbated with everyone acting as if Harry would even be able to pull off such a feat.

I walked Harry to his Charms class before I headed off to Care of Magical Creatures.

We walked in silence as I worried and Harry brooded.

"I think this is the worst I've ever felt at Hogwarts," Harry whispered rather desperately.

I looked at him a little skeptically, but he just shrugged.

"Voldemort is always going to be a factor, so I don't count him. And yes, it was the scariest when I thought the basilisk had killed you and the whole school thought I was at fault, but at least I had Ron…" he continued sadly.

I put my arm over his shoulder, feeling terrible for being at a loss for words. The guilt I felt for not being chosen again rippled through my mind. Dad and Remus had already sent me letters asking about Harry and the competition and all I felt was that I had let them all down.

I noticed we had reached Flitwick's class when Harry stopped.

Harry stepped away from where I was standing and looked me in the eye.

"It's not your fault Mar," he said kindly.

I looked back at Harry but only sighed.

"I'll meet you for dinner," was all I answered.

He nodded and disappeared into the classroom.

I kept heading down the hallway until I exited the school. I looked out at the grounds and noticed that there was an unexpectedly large group herding themselves towards Hagrid's hut. I thought it was odd considering so few sixth years had passed this particular O.W.L.

"Merlin, sake!" I whispered harshly before stomping towards the ogling group of admirers.

"Excuse me!" I said as I pushed my way through what looked to be mostly girls towards the middle of the huddle.

"Move!" I said more forcefully when I saw the familiar tuft of light-brown hair.

Many of the girls around me gave me a snubbed look but Cedric turned around with a grin.

"There's my favourite fan!" Cedric said gleefully as I noticed the quill in his hand.

"I am not your fan!" I retorted in an offended tone.

I looked around loathingly at the students circling Cedric and noticed most of them were wearing pins on their cloaks.

I turned back to Cedric and saw that his smile had dropped and he was returning his quill to his rucksack. The girls then started to walk away when they noticed I now had Cedric's undivided attention and he was no longer giving out autographs.

"You're right Marnie, you're not my fan," he said apologetically.

"What is with the pins?!" I asked in a livid tone.

I had seen enough to notice that they were pro-Cedric merchandise with a defaming slogan of _Potter Stinks._

Cedric frowned further.

"They weren't my idea, I swear!" he replied earnestly.

This added to my already sour mood. I knew I had been rather foul ever since Harry was chosen as the surprise fourth champion. I also knew it must be compromising to Cedric's excitement over being chosen as the legitimate champion of Hogwarts.

"Want to go on a secret date later tonight?" he asked in a quieter voice so those who were trying to eavesdrop couldn't hear.

I continued to stare at him before breaking into a smile.

"Yes, I would like that very much," I replied before taking his hand and leading him all the way down to where Hagrid now stood.

I knew that as Cedric's girlfriend, I must at least try and celebrate him being a champion instead of just sulking alongside Harry.

XXX

 _"Marnie, could yer help me with this?"_ Hagrid asked midway through our class.

I abandoned Cedric and Liam, leaving them to wrangle all three of our skrewts with mild satisfaction.

"What is it Hagrid?" I asked once I had made my way over to him.

 _"I wanted ter ask abou' 'arry,"_ he said with a worried expression.

"He's scared I think, but putting on a brave face," I replied honestly.

 _"I'm glad ter know he has you lookin' out fer 'im,"_ Hagrid replied with an air of confidence that I found quite humbling.

"Of course I am, but I'm afraid I am one of only a few," I said worriedly.

 _"'Arry 'as lots er people lookin' out fer 'im!"_ Hagrid agreed more enthusiastically.

I smiled unconvincingly before hearing a yelp from across the field. I looked over to see Liam running away from the three skrewts that were now all circling Cedric.

"I better go assist," I said before fast-walking towards Cedric.

Heading back up to the castle, Cedric kept his distance since he was now covered in skrewt slime. He promised to meet me on the third-floor corridor after dinner. I went and tried to find Harry, but he was not in the kitchens, common room or the library. Hearing my stomach growl, I finally decided to go down for supper in the Great Hall and worried that Harry had gotten himself into trouble. Hermione wasn't even around to ask.

When I entered the Great Hall I was relieved to see Angelina and the rest of our friends. I sunk into the seat beside Katie and sighed. Thankfully none of them were wearing any badges.

"Did you hear Harry got a detention for duelling with Malfoy?" Alicia asked with a concerned look on her face.

I sighed and shook my head. Everyone knew how worried I had been all week over Harry, despite their explicit excitement over having a Gryffindor champion. However, all of us knew it was always a bad idea to provoke or engage Draco Malfoy.

"That brother of yours does have a temper," George said a little provokingly.

I turned to him with a withering stare.

"You're one to talk! I am sure Ron isn't willingly missing dinner either," I retorted reproachfully.

George broke out into a wide grin.

"Calm down Mar! I was only trying to get you to smile and lighten up," he responded with his arms up in a surrendering position.

I continued to frown at him but couldn't stay mad. It was tiring actually to be this gloomy and anxious all the time, especially when I was up against the twins and their antics.

I leaned over and lowered my voice.

"Do you have any experiments on the go?" I asked, wanting an update as a distraction.

"Yea, you want to help us this evening?" George answered gleefully.

"Of course, after I meet up with Cedric, I'll head back to the common room to help out. He has rounds tonight anyways so I'll be back before curfew," I replied, happy to have plans for the rest of the night that didn't involve feeling guilty or worried over Harry.

Once dinner was cleared away, I headed up to the third floor and immediately felt pleased to see both Cedric standing near the one-eyed witch statue, and that he was standing alone without his previous enclave of bystanders.

"I can't believe you're the one suggesting breaking school rules," I said a little provokingly.

He smirked and I couldn't help noticing his chest puff out a bit.

"Hey, I wasn't supposed to bring you to the prefect washroom! It's only for prefects," he answered in mock offense.

I laughed and grabbed onto his arm before he bent down and gave me a kiss. I deepened it by bringing my hands to his cheeks and pulling his face closer to mine. I realized then that I may have been feeling a bit threatened with all the attention Cedric was getting.

He pulled back and took my face in his hands as mine dropped to my sides.

"You know you're the only girl for me," he said simply but I could tell how honest he was being.

"It's always good to hear it once in a while," I said a little smugly before leading him behind the statue.

Cerdric smiled again. "You know, a very selfish part of me is glad I got selected as champion."

I looked at him and smiled. "I know I haven't been the best girlfriend for supporting you. You know I'm very proud of you right? I know you definitely deserved it."

"Well, thank-you. That is also nice to hear once in a while, but it's not what I was talking about," he replied.

"What did you mean then?" I asked skeptically.

We had reached the other end of the tunnel and I was waiting a minute before giving the all clear.

"I don't know what I would do if you had a hoard of blokes following you everywhere, wanting an autograph or something," he said seriously.

I paused, already sure the storekeeper was gone for the evening. I just stared at Cedric before breaking out into a fit of laughter.

Cedric gave me an annoyed look. "I'm being serious. It's bad enough sometimes with how the twins treat you."

My laughter was cut short.

"The twins?" I asked hesitantly before opening up the door.

"Well, it's actually just Fred if I'm being completely honest. He's extremely protective of you," Cedric replied matter-of-factly.

Despite the twins being my very best friends, I didn't really talk about them in detail with Cedric. Cedric had never come off as overtly jealous of them, but I knew they had never really hit it off. Also, most of my relationship with Fred and George comprised of pranks and joke products which were both highly top secret and, on a need to know basis. In turn, Cedric always respected my friendship with them and hardly ever brought it up directly.

"Fred has always been protective of me," I replied with as much ease as I could muster.

It was odd that the topic of Fred's behaviour towards me had been continually brought up this year. Plus, there was the feeling at the bottom of my stomach and the itch at the back of my mind that I had been adamantly avoiding since the beginning of the term whenever I thought of Fred.

"Well, I'm glad there's someone else out there who wants to keep you as safe as I try to," Cedric added happily.

He walked over to the chocolate frog display and grabbed a couple from the top of the pile.

"Well, there's always Harry," I said.

"True, but he's as bad as you are for getting himself into tight spots," Cedric said skeptically.

I sighed but didn't rebut the remark. Unfortunately, I think this year propelled Harry into first place for who has been in the most danger between the two of us.

Once we were done getting our candy and had a brief snog, Cedric insisted on buying my fill this time since it had been his idea. We then walked back hand-in-hand until we got to the Hogwarts entrance.

"I have to get going on my rounds love. I'll see you later?" he asked, giving me a peck on the cheek.

"See you tomorrow," I replied.

I was the first to walk out and check if the coast was clear.

"Fred?" I asked as I walked right into his shoulder.

He had been standing right on the other side of the statue. This probably meant that the twins had been on their way to Honeydukes.

"See you guys!" Cedric said hurriedly as he walked from behind me and proceeded to jog down the corridor.

At this point he was probably late for meeting up with his patrol partner.

"What?" I asked as I had watched Fred's face turn from surprise to something I had never seen before.

He was furious.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?" Fred bellowed with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Come on Fred—" George started but Fred put up his hand to cut him off.

"You brought pretty boy to our secret place? We don't bring anyone here!" Fred continued to yell.

"You gave Harry the map! Of course, he's been here with Ron and Hermione I am sure," I retorted pointedly.

"You had no right!" he continued heatedly.

"No right?! Cedric has been my boyfriend for over a year and it was only recently I brought him! I made sure he was permanent enough to share this secret with," I continued defiantly.

"It's always going to be him," Fred said, but I didn't know what he really meant by it.

I reached over to take his arm but Fred pulled back and gave me an even worse look—one of disgust.

"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! I'm done Marnie," he bellowed again before storming off.

I still had my hand up as if Fred was still there to hold onto to. My mouth was agape in shock and I could already feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"Marnie…" a voice said before I felt a pair of arms around me.

The strength of the embrace was enough to ground me, probably because these arms were so familiar. It was George.

"Shouldn't you go after him?" I asked, knowing I sounded like I was crying.

"Definitely not. My twin is being an ass and he just hurt my best friend in the entire world," George said matter-of-factly.

"What the hell just happened?" I whimpered into George's shoulder.

George sighed and continued to hold onto me.

"I don't really know Marnie," he replied quietly before pulling away.

George kept one arm wrapped over my shoulder as he led me back to the common room.

Like I said, this was one of the worst weeks of my life.


	52. Dragons

"He said what, again?!" Alicia asked for the dozenth time this week.

We had just walked by Fred and Lee on our way to the Hogsmeade.

"You already know what he said Leesh," Ange said disapprovingly before I could answer.

"I just don't understand how he could be so mad about you and Cedric. I mean he's been your boyfriend for over a year now," Alicia continued despite the pointed looks from both Angelina and Katie.

"I told Cedric one of our secrets," I explained in a dull tone.

I was now at the point where all of my emotions on the subject were numb. It beat the stabbing pain in my chest that I had had for the first week every time I took a breath. Now, it was only whenever I saw him.

"Right—" Alicia said unconvinced.

"Where do you want to go first?" Angelina cut in in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

We had just arrived at the small town beside Hogwarts and for the first time since our third year I didn't feel very excited about it. This time the seven of us wouldn't be meeting up at The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and a laugh.

"Where is Cedric meeting you again?" Angelina asked in an unnaturally sweet tone.

Afterwards, all of my friends had been livid with Fred, and a few of them, Harry, Ginny, and Angelina, had all chewed him out for it. But Fred was still actively ignoring me while Lee was the only one who was regularly talking to him. Katie however, made sure to let me know that Lee was not choosing sides. I told them that they didn't have to choose sides either, but it seemed they were all a little hurt and offended by Fred's bizarre behaviour.

The most surprising I found was that George was also giving Fred a wide berth. Of course, they still talked, being as close as they were, but George ended up spending most of his free time with me.

"He's being Liam's wingman or something, so we are going to meet up afterwards at The Three Broomsticks," I explained.

I wasn't upset that Cedric was not spending the whole time with me. He had actually been giving me a lot of space, so we hadn't spent any alone time together since Fred's outburst. Apparently, he had heard most of it, but by the time he turned around to check on me George had already led me away.

"Well, I need to head to Gladrags and pick up some matching shoes to go with my dress robes," Alicia announced excitedly.

"That sounds like something myself and gloomy-pants over here would surely muck up," George said as he appeared at my side.

I smiled, not at all offended by his new nickname for me. He was getting me out of clothes shopping, to which I knew the other three had been looking forward to.

We waved the three girls good-bye before George started leading me towards the other end of town.

"The Shrieking Shack?" I asked in a neutral voice.

"Yea, not a lot of people usually head that way," George answered with a shrug.

We walked in an easy silence until I heard a familiar sounding voice calling out for George.

I looked up and was instantly surprised to see Charlie Weasley standing along the fenced boundary of the Shrieking Shack.

"Charlie?!" I exclaimed in a surprised and excited tone.

He came over with a smile and his arms extended. I met him with an embrace, followed by George.

"You knew he was here?" I asked George, surprised by the sudden appearance of his older brother.

"Of course, I got the owl a week back," he replied matter-of-factly.

"So, how are things?" Charlie asked enthusiastically.

"Well, I know you already know about Harry," I said with a frown.

Charlie frowned back.

"Yea, that's part of the reason I'm here. Mum wanted to make sure someone was here to watch him in the first challenge," Charlie answered almost apologetically.

I knew Mrs. Weasley must be as nervous as my father was at the thought of Harry competing.

"What's the other part?" George asked without skipping a beat.

Charlie sighed. "Well, I know I'm not supposed to say anything, but Harry is already in way over his head I am sure."

I deepened my frown at Charlie. I thought about what he could possibly know about the tournament that would bring him here only a few days before the event.

"Charlie…" I started carefully.

He looked up and read the expression on my face.

"What is it again that you work with?" I asked, fretfully already knowing the answer.

Charlie sighed again. "Dragons."

I saw as George's eyes lit up in both excitement and worry before his gaze turned over to mine.

"Are you going to tell Cedric?" George asked, already knowing I would tell Harry.

I looked at Charlie's pleading expression and knew Cedric had entered himself with no intention on having a leg up, whereas someone was purposely trying to sabotage Harry.

"No, he can wait for the surprise," I said evenly.

Both Weasley brothers gave me a wicked grin.

"Fred still not come to his senses?" Charlie asked, changing the subject.

George's grin turned on a dime and I watched the sadness seep into his eyes. I knew that George was also feeling a little betrayed by Fred, especially since Fred hadn't confided in George as to the true reason for his outburst. Fred and George had also never kept anything from each other in their entire lives.

"Not yet," I replied, more enthusiastically than I felt.

Charlie nodded.

"I do have to get back, but I am glad I got a chance to see you two," Charlie said before extending his arms out for another embrace.

George waved and started heading back towards the village. I had a feeling he was meeting up with Lee and Fred to buy supplies and I needed to meet up with Cedric.

"You know, I never thought the twins would ever let someone else in," Charlie said before I stepped away to follow George.

"Yea, it's always felt as if they claimed me as their own," I said with a small smile.

"I mean, watching you guys during your first two years at school, I remember how relieved I felt that they trusted someone else as much as they trust each other," Charlie continued.

I nodded and smiled.

"I know how much of a prat my brother is being. But I hope you understand him enough to know that he's just acting out because he's confused," Charlie said sympathetically.

"He's pushing George away too," I said sadly.

"Then he's hurting more than anyone can realize," Charlie frowned before digging his hands into his pockets and walking back towards the school grounds.

XXX

"Did you ever find Harry?" George asked that night at dinner.

I shook my head and surveyed the table again for any signs of my adopted brother.

George and I spent the later evening sitting in the common room where Harry eventually showed up. Relief washed over me when he spotted me and walked over.

"Hiya Harry," George greeted, and Harry nodded back.

"Can I have help with some homework?" Harry asked surprisingly.

I nodded and followed him to the other side of the room where there were two empty seats. Once we sat down, I watched as George got up and joined Fred and Lee who were no doubt going over product plans and their inventory from today's shopping.

"So, what do you really want?" I asked, knowing Harry has never asked for homework advice from me in his life.

"I'm meeting with Sirius tonight," he whispered.

My gaze widened and I stifled any loud response.

"How?!" I asked excitedly.

"Dunno," Harry replied unhelpfully.

I sighed but nodded. It made sense Sirius wouldn't divulge something as sensitive as meeting up with Harry at Hogwarts when he was still a wanted convict.

"There's something I have to tell you about the first task," I said with a gulp forming in my throat.

"I already know about the dragons," Harry continued whispering.

"How?" I asked, surprised he had found out so quickly; especially since it was supposed to be a secret.

"Hagrid," he answered simply.

I nodded again, knowing there was no way dragons could be on the grounds without Hagrid's knowledge.

"Did you tell Cedric?" Harry asked in an unreadable tone, not like Charlie almost pleading for my silence.

"No, he entered on his own free will," I answered matter-of-factly.

"Well, I think one of us should tell him. Fleur and Krum most likely know by now," Harry explained.

I sighed. "Maybe it should come from you."

"Why?" Harry asked a little skeptically.

"Well, you guys are both champions. Instead of his girlfriend giving him a clue to make it easier, maybe if it came from you, he would feel he owed you a favour in the future," I explained suggestively.

Harry smiled back at me and shook his head. "You are too corrupt for your own good."

We waited in the corner until we were the last two in the common room. I was reading a book while Harry just gazed around the room with a bored expression.

"Sirius!" Harry gasped in a loud whisper around half eleven.

I looked up in surprise and gazed around until my eyes fell upon the face of Sirius Black poking out of the fireplace.

"How is that possible?" I asked, startled at the sight.

"I broke into a wizard's house who appears to be out for the evening," Sirius explained with a smirk.

I couldn't help but return with my own grin; it was so good to see him again. It also showed that he had almost returned to his normal self. He had a rosier complexion and his face was full, not like the ghostly sunken silhouette it had been before.

"It's good to see you both," Sirius added with a smile before turning to Harry.

"How are you?" he asked kindly.

I looked over to Harry whose face fell in anguish. I knew how stressed Harry had been, especially with Ron being stubborn and the first task coming up. Instead of covering it up for Sirius, Harry broke down. Everything that had been bothering him came out of his mouth, only making the insides of my stomach churn. It was nothing I hadn't head before, but I couldn't help feeling guilty again that I couldn't do more to protect him.

"Marnie," I heard Sirius say my name, taking me out of my guilt-ridden reverie. "It is a good thing your name didn't get chosen."

I nodded my head, afraid that I would break down if I let myself speak.

Harry took my head and nodded in agreement.

"There's something else at play here, Marnie. Of course, I would have been thrilled to see you compete and give those champions a good showing off, but I worry there is something else going on behind the game itself," Sirius said forebodingly.

"Now, as for that dragon," Sirius turned to Harry once again but was cut off when Harry and I both heard the sound of a door closing at the top of the boy's staircase.

"Go, Sirius!" Harry said hurriedly, not wanting his godfather to be seen or caught.

Sirius' head instantly disappeared from the fire as a set of footsteps entered the common room. Harry and I both looked up to see Ron enter.

I sighed dejectedly, knowing Ron would have never turned Sirius in, despite his current petty feud with Harry.

Harry probably had the same thought, as his anger roiled up once again. He started yelling at Ron, accusing him of sneaking in on him. I knew Harry was just as upset as I was that we probably wouldn't hear from Sirius anytime soon, but Ron didn't deserve the venomous tirade from Harry. Harry even went so far as to chucking a pin at Ron's head which bounced off and left Ron standing dumbfounded. Harry disappeared upstairs before Ron could deliver any kind of retort. Once Harry had stormed up, Ron kept standing in place, looking after Harry.

"You know he's lonely without you," I said, causing Ron to turn around and face me.

I saw him trying to muster up some level of anger.

"Well, he has you doesn't he," Ron retorted.

I snorted, tired of the both of them and their stubbornness.

"You can be as mad at me as you like, but you know I didn't put his name in that goblet. I have spent the last four years trying to protect Harry, I thought you had done the same," I shot back.

Ron lowered his head, I could see the embarrassed blush cover his face. I walked towards the younger boy and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"He needs you, that's why he's angry," I said more softly, before walking away and heading up to my own dormitory.

Ron didn't say anything, and I hoped that my words had gotten through to him, although I knew how stubborn the Weasley's could be. Ron was the least of my problems at this point.

I wasn't surprised the next day when Ron and Harry still hadn't made up. I ended up at the library with Harry and Hermione, trying to find the spell that Sirius had tried to tell Harry about last night. By the end of the day, Harry was as surly as ever while Hermione looked as frazzled as I felt. It was a helpless feeling to think that I couldn't do anything to help Harry from going off into a dragon's den in a few short days. A fact that was sorely brought up the following lunchtime.

I was sitting alone with George since Fred was off somewhere and the others were all in Ancient Runes.

"May I have a word, Marnie?" Cedric had come up, using an almost curt sounding tone.

George looked at me, but I only shrugged. I had an idea of what had happened.

"So, Harry delivered a rather helpful message this morning," Cedric said in an irritated tone once we were alone in the Front Hall.

"And what was that?" I asked, feigning innocence.

"Come on, Marnie. How could you not tell me about the dragons?" Cedric asked in a hushed tone.

"Because you entered this competition of your own volition, same as me," I responded simply.

I stood by my decision about leaving Cedric in the dark. If it had been me, I would have felt cheap finding intel about the tasks before they happened.

"And Harry didn't?" Cedric asked goadingly.

I stared down Cedric, causing him to take a step back. I could see he regretted asking me this.

"No," I stated firmly, leaving no room for questioning.

"Well, apparently Krum and Fleur also know," Cedric said, going for another tactic, although with less vigour.

"Come on Ced, I'm not going to feel bad about my decision. You wanted to be tested by the tasks, this is your test," I explained.

Cedric looked at me for a few moments before sighing.

"You're a real ball-buster sometimes, you know that?" Cedric said with a grin.

"But you love me," I replied smartly.

"Of course, I love you," he answered more seriously.

"Any chance you'll let me know about any intel in the future?" he asked hopefully.

"Not a chance," I answered defiantly, feeling the smug grin widen across my face.

He shook his head with a laugh.

"Any change with Fred?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Nope," I replied resolutely.

Cedric studied my expression before nodding.

He didn't say anything more on the subject but instead led me back into the Great Hall.

I ended up sitting with Cedric and his friends, earning myself some well thought out glares from other girls before George came and collected me for Potions.

"You'll be there tomorrow?" Cedric asked with an excited spark in his eye.

Tomorrow was Tuesday, the first task.

"Of course, I'll be there," I replied reassuringly.

"You'll be cheering me on?" Cedric asked more seriously.

"I can support both my boyfriend and my brother," I replied before kissing him on the cheek.

"Don't get yourself killed by a dragon," I whispered in his ear before standing up and collecting my rucksack.

"No falling off the stands," Cedric replied with a smirk.

I glowered and stuck my tongue out at him.

He laughed and waved me off as I followed George out of the Great Hall.

Unfortunately, I felt that my boyfriend getting burned alive tomorrow was the least of my worries.s the least of my worries.


	53. First Task

**Just a disclaimer that there is a special bonus at the end of this chapter. I miss Fred, and wanted to give him some extra attention since Cedric is sort of ruing the day.**

 **I am absolutely loving this school year for Marnie and have been planning it out for a long time now.**

 **XXXXX**

"You look dreadful," George said bluntly as I sat down for breakfast the next morning.

"Good morning to you too," I replied, failing to snap back in my exhaustion.

The truth was I hadn't slept very well, and the hour or so that I had, I dreamt about Harry walking into a wall of fire towards the scarily large dragon beyond. I had woken up scared out of my wits and hadn't been able to fall back.

"Erm—Marnie…" I heard Harry say in a low voice beside me.

I looked over to see Professor McGonagall who was most likely here to collect Harry for the first task.

I stared up at him, feeling all my nerves flow throughout my body and making me forget any words at all to say to him.

"You need to let go," Harry said softly, looking down where my hand was still wrapped around his.

I had almost forgotten that I grabbed onto it on our way out of the common room and still hadn't let go.

I nodded and instead enveloped myself around him, sternly telling myself not to break down in front of him; he was already wracked with nerves.

I broke apart from him after hearing McGonagall clear her throat and Ginny grabbing my arm to separate me. She was still holding on to my arm as I watched him being led away, apparently out to the grounds where the pitch was usually set up.

"I need to go see Cedric," I stated, all of a sudden remembering that I hadn't seen him off this morning.

"Marnie, he's already gone off," Ginny said sympathetically.

"I'll go find him then," I said matter-of-factly, choosing to ignore the worried glances from all my friends.

I pulled myself away from Ginny before any of them decided to try and keep me here; all of whom I knew were capable.

None of the students were out to the grounds yet, so I was one of only a few who were outside and not in finishing breakfast. When I entered the stands, I was shocked to see Cho Chang sitting alone, waiting for everyone else to show up. I didn't think she was still interested in Cedric, she had stopped glaring at me in the halls at least since the beginning of the year.

I ignored her and started walking up towards a large tent where I figured the champions must be. I entered once I got to the top of the stands, not really thinking of any rules prohibiting me from entering. Immediately, I was relieved when I saw Cedric, sitting on a cot alongside the tent wall.

"Marnie?" Cedric asked surprised, but with a large smile across his face.

"Hey, you," I replied sweetly, feeling a little bit better than I had since last night.

"I don't really know if you're supposed to be in here," Cedric said, although Fleur and Krum didn't seem to care or even acknowledge my presence.

Harry was off to the side but made no effort to approach me. If I was being honest, my obvious worry over him probably made him feel worse about his situation than he already did.

"I just wanted to wish you luck," I replied before wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a deeper kiss than I had meant to.

His life being imminently threatened within the next few minutes seemed to forego my sense of chaste.

"Young love!" I heard an unfamiliar woman's voice squeak from behind me, causing me to quickly retract from Cedric's embrace.

I turned around, already feeling mortified, to see a very blonde lady wearing deep green dress robes, staring directly at me. Although her voice had been almost cheerful, her stare was full of scrutiny, as if I were a fly under a microscope; I had read about such things in my father's old biology books.

Cedric kept a protective arm over my shoulder, apparently familiar with the likes of this overly inquisitive witch. But then I turned my gaze to the floating quill and parchment directly next to her left shoulder.

"Rita Skeeter darling, and what might your name be?" the confirmed reporter asked while continuing to bore her gaze into mine.

"Marnie," I answered in a timid voice, thrown off by Rita's sudden appearance and fascination with me.

"Not the adopted sister of dear Harry Potter over here!" she said in a hungry sounding tone.

Then I remembered the overzealous piece that had been written about Harry after his wand weighing ceremony. The article where my name had somehow been mentioned. I also couldn't help specifically remembering the part where I had reportedly been stowed away like a caged rat for the first thirteen years of my life before Harry was reunited with me at last. George had howled at the insinuation.

"I should be finding my seat," I said, feeling Cedric's hand almost push me in the direction of the tent flap that would lead me back out to the stands.

"Why run darling, it seems you already love being at the center of excitement?" the antagonizing witch said provokingly as I quickly walked past her.

My arms were crossed over my chest, as if to shield myself from her laser-like vision; but tucked away were my fists. This woman was infuriating and I could only kid myself that my name wouldn't appear in tomorrow's Prophet.

"Is Cedric alright?" Angelina asked me as I took my seat beside her.

"Yea, he was more concerned about that Skeeter lady from the Daily Prophet," I explained, still feeling critical about the witch.

"That woman is horrid! All those things she keeps reporting about Harry," Ginny fumed.

Everyone nodded but before anyone could add their opinion, the booming voice of Ludo Bagman sounded over the converted quidditch pitch. My hand tightened in whoever's hand I was grasping onto; later confirmed to be Ginny. My grasp tightened even more, probably cutting off Ginny's circulation while we watched as a team of dragon trainers, no doubt one of them being Charlie Weasley, lowered a dragon in a cage into the center of the rocky interior that had once been the green grass of the quidditch field.

I felt my other hand being taken and spared a glance to see Fred—no George—take a seat and proceed to run his spare hand up and down my arm in a would-be consolable fashion; if I had the capacity to even remotely calm down.

 _"You wanted this for yourself,"_ a small voice taunted from the depths of my mind.

 _"Not for Harry!"_ I screamed back internally.

 _"Maybe you are not so brave after all little badger,"_ the voice chastised, reprimanding myself for not being enough to get chosen as the true champion; as someone worthy of protecting Harry.

"Look," George said, forcing me out of my dark thoughts as Cedric was announced as the first champion to compete.

I looked at him with as much excitement as I could muster but was still terrified to watch the boy I loved take on a two-tonne beast.

I held my breath as Cedric stepped out into the arena and looked nervously at the dragon, introduced as a Swedish Short-Snout. I could see the greenish pallor of Cedric's skin from here and watched as he assessed his situation.

The dragon started to growl, mustering a low guttural sound that seemed especially territorial. Cedric thankfully jumped into action, taking out his wand and aiming it towards the beast. His next move was not to attack but instead, he transfigured a nearby boulder into a creature; a dog to be precise.

"It's a distraction!" Ginny said excitedly, keeping her hand embraced in mine.

"I could have taken that thing head-on!" George interjected.

"Don't be daft!" I retorted, causing him to laugh back.

"Whatever get's you to smile, love," George quipped before turning his focus back on Cedric.

I smiled, feeling a little self conscious from that level of George's affection. Of course, our relationship was purely platonic, but it still got to me the bounds George often went through.

"He's got it!" Angelina cried, ten painstaking minutes later.

I felt a sigh exhale from my lips before my breath immediately hitched again. I then screamed, watching as the dragon turned its attention form the faux-dog to my very real boyfriend. I watched as his champions' uniform caught on fire and heard his cries when the flame touched his skin.

I continued to scream while George stood up beside me and wrapped his arms over me, probably to keep me in place. I had stood up with the others in excitement for Cedric's success and had remained standing while I looked on in horror. I could hear Hermione's whispers in my mind saying that people had died in these competitions before.

"He's alright, he's alright—look Marnie, he put out the flames, he's alright," George chanted, long after Cedric had extinguished the flames and dodged out of sight with his prized golden egg.

The dragon trainers had returned to subdue the beast and replaced it with another one, this time a Welsh Green for Fleur Delacour.

I didn't even comprehend what was going on until Fleur had completed her task and Krum was getting reprimanded for causing the dragon to harm her actual eggs. My full attention was brought back by the fierce squeezing of my hand that Ginny was holding. I looked over at the girl and wanted to smile at her obvious affections for my brother but was too scared myself to be able to show anything other than fear.

I swallowed the nerves that felt like they were threatening to make me sick, instead sitting rooted in my seat and watching as Harry stepped out into the arena.

I held my breath and refused to blink, wanting to catch every instant of Harry's match against the Hungarian Horntail; which automatically seemed like the worst beast yet. I watched as Harry immediately cast his summoning charm for his broom and waited impatiently for it to appear in the sky.

Moments later, everyone heard a zooming sound from the direction of the castle and turned in time to watch as Harry expertly jumped onto his soaring Firebolt.

"He's got it!" I exclaimed proudly, jumping excitedly to my feet.

I wasn't the only one as everyone around me watched in anticipation while Harry circled around the dragon.

"This is mad!" I heard Ron shout out from behind me; I could hear his anxiety rising.

"Still think he did it?" I asked pointedly, allowing myself a brief glare at Ron.

I watched as his cheeks turned pink and he shook his head.

The sound of everyone gasping made me whip my head back around in time to see that Harry had gotten hit in the shoulder by one of the spikes from the dragon's tail.

I squeezed both Ginny and George's hands, watching as Harry was now weaving around the Horntail's fireballs. Then, watching as he caught his moment, Harry dove and picked up the golden egg from the dragon's nest.

"He's got it!" I exclaimed again, jumping up and down with Ginny as we latched onto each other.

My worry completely dissolved into overwhelming joy and pride for Harry, and Cedric too! They had both represented Hogwarts fiercely, and were both still living to tell the tale.

"We should go find your boys!" Katie said cheekily before grabbing my hand and leading me in the direction Hermione and Ron had already disappeared off to.

Something told me that after today, Ron and Harry would finally make-up.

I looked over my shoulder in search of a particular red-headed boy, despite my reservations. I quickly found him and locked eyes with Fred who was sharing his excitement with Lee and George. He caught my gaze for a moment and looked as if he was deeply mournful behind his outward jubilance. But, as quickly as his eyes had latched onto mine, he purposely shifted his gaze away and took off back towards the school.

xxxxxxxxxx

Something extra 😉

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Fred's P.O.V.

It was almost disappointing not being able to watch the first challenge, Pretty Boy versus the dragon, but I couldn't help staring at the back of Marnie's head. Even without seeing her face, I could tell she was utterly panicked. It had been obvious this morning as well that she hadn't slept much, but I had just assumed it was mostly over worrying about Harry. I also fixated on my brother's hand and could almost picture it being mine. George had been reluctant giving me any updates on Marnie since my falling out with her, but I had been persistent with the upcoming task. George had told me Marnie had all but stopped sleeping and hadn't even really been hanging out with Pretty Boy either.

I sighed, something that went completely unnoticed by Lee or Katie, who were both sitting with me, since everyone else was too preoccupied with the dragon only a few feet in front of them. I turned my attention back when I watched Marnie jump out of her seat in excitement. I looked up to see that Cedric was now holding the golden egg; Pretty Boy hadn't done too bad for himself, not that I could bring myself to admit that.

But then the most horrible noise seemed to explode out of Marnie and I felt as my feet started to move without my permission. Marnie was screaming, a most painful sound that made the inside of my chest clench as bad as it had the day I turned my back on her and walked away. My feet only stopped when I watched my brother wrap his similar arms around her, both a comforting and necessary gesture as I watched Marnie trying to run away; presumably to somewhere where she would think to try and save Cedric. A flood of jealousy and wanting surged up as I continued to stare at my brother but could not will myself to leave my spot. I stood planted in the same place, unable to get past my own stubbornness. If I was being completely truthful with myself, I would recognize that it wasn't stubbornness but shame that I couldn't face Marnie after what I had so foolishly done.

After Marnie stopped her painful sobs, I beadily watched Fleur and Krum complete their tasks against their respective dragons. I was pointedly focusing my gaze but couldn't help averting it to Marnie once again when Harry was called out. Her anxiety was almost palpable, and I even heard Ron whimper from beside me. He had been just as stubbornly shadowing me these past few weeks while we both avoided out best friends.

Again, I chastised myself as I watched Marnie instead of Harry, but couldn't help my urge to want to walk over and envelope her in my arms. I wanted to protect her from her own fear and reassure her that she wasn't alone. But George and Ginny already had that covered, so I looked on with jealousy. Thankfully, she didn't scream this time and jumped in elation when Harry successfully claimed his prize. I couldn't help but turn to Lee and high five him as everyone around us exploded with excitement. By the time I turned back to see Marnie, I watched as Angelina and the rest of them were running off towards the champions' tent. George had since made his way over and was giving me a reproachful look. I ignored it and turned away, unwillingly catching Marnie's gaze. My chest squeezed, but in a different sort of way than before; not so pinchy-like. But, shaking my head in all of my confusion, I turned away and started heading back towards the school.

"Where are you headed?" George asked, almost as a challenge.

"Someone has to get the common room ready for the huge celebration for Harry!" I stated as cheerfully as I could.

Lee wholly approved and offered to come along, as did George. But one look into my brother's eyes told me he wasn't buying my façade of happiness.


	54. A lot of Dancing

**Just to say that I am very happy with this chapter and found I got carried away by Marnie in all her celebrating. I absolutely love my characters and that most everyone is happier than they've been in a while [poor Fred :( ]. Happy reading!**

Our group missed all of the champions by the time we finally got passed everyone in the stands. Angelina and the rest then eagerly pulled me towards the Gryffindor common room since they knew the twins would have gotten enough sweets by now for the party.

It was unbelievable to feel as though all of the worry and guilt that I'd been feeling over the last few months had finally subsided. Of course, it had been terrifying to watch Harry take on a dragon, but he had done extraordinarily well for himself. He was even tied for first with Viktor Krum. I didn't want to admit it out loud, but it had been obvious Harry had out performed Cedric, who had stupidly gotten himself caught on fire. I felt a tiny bit guilty for not running to go find him, but I was too caught up in my excitement for Harry. I knew Madam Pomfrey would have fixed Cedric by now and I would go sneak into the Hufflepuff party as soon as I saw Harry.

Oddly, my group made it back before Harry, Hermione and Ron. I smiled, feeling this meant Ron had indeed reconciled with my brother. This made me inadvertently look over to where George was setting up a punch bowl with Fred; who no doubt were spiking it. This time, Fred didn't turn around and I worried once again that I would never get my best friend back.

But my thoughts were interrupted by a loud round of applause. I turned to see Harry enter with his other two best mates, golden egg in hand. His grin spread from ear to ear and I knew he was pretty pleased with himself. I immediately bolted towards him, pushing a few Gryffindors out of the way in the process. Harry's grin grew a little bit more when I tackled him in a crushing embrace.

"Oi, Marnie, he's still got two other tasks to compete in, don't go breaking him now," Ron said jokingly, causing me to look up at the younger red-headed boy.

His blush was already spread out across his face and I knew he felt badly about all his time ignoring both Harry and me.

I let go of Harry and hugged Ron, happy to see life was going back to somewhat normal.

Ron didn't utter any comprehensible words during our hug, but I just winked at both him and Harry before letting them be accepted into the applauding crowd.

"He did alright, didn't he?" George asked, coming up beside me.

"You bet he did," I replied proudly, watching as Harry's other dormmates huddled around him, Ron and the egg.

But before George could give any sort of come back, the common room erupted with an ear-splitting scream. I quickly covered my ears and noticed that the horrible noise was coming from the golden egg.

"Oi, shut the bloody thing!" I heard Fred holler from the other side of the room.

Harry thankfully obliged, but my ears were still ringing.

"What kind of clue is that?" Dean Thomas asked, one of Harry's other dormmates.

"It sounded like someone being tortured, maybe you have to fight off the _Cruciatus_ curse," Neville posed in a worried voice.

I frowned at him, and then at Harry who immediately met my gaze and shook his head.

"Don't be daft, that's illegal Neville," George replied, taking my hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

The rest of the Gryffindors then started their own line of guessing, each one less plausible than the last.

"I better go off to the Hufflepuff common room," I said once my friends had gathered round, all with a cup in their hand.

"No, stay awhile Mar!" Angelina said, wanting to celebrate with her best friend.

Angelina was happy to see a visible difference in Marnie than Ange had seen over the past month. It was obvious that Marnie had been fretting over Harry and Fred had gone off and completely made it worse. But, watching her brother with pride, Angelina knew Marnie must be feeling on top of the world right now that everyone would be safe for the next little while. Angelina then gave George a meaningful look and couldn't help noticing the slight blush cross his face.

"Yea, we were already by there while we were nicking the food for the party, it didn't sound nearly as fun as ours is going to be!" George said enthusiastically, causing another smile from Angelina.

"Here, let your hair down Marnie!" Katie said, shoving a laced drink into her friend's hand.

"Erm—alright," Marnie said with only mild consideration for still leaving to go find Cedric.

I downed the drink in my hand before grabbing onto Angelina's hand and dragging her towards where many others were already dancing around in their merriment.

Three drinks later I felt as if the world was floating. I was light as a bubble and felt absolutely amazing. I finally reached the punch bowl and put my hand out to scoop more of the liquid into my cup.

"I think I must cut you off love," George appeared at my side out of no where.

I had thought he had been talking up Angelina but he must have seen me trying to sneak another cup.

"I want to go see Cedric now!" I demanded, being overly confident in my lesser functioning to be able to find the common room all the way down into the basement.

George sighed. "You're going to go regardless of what I say aren't you?"

"Yup!" I said proudly before spinning on my foot, almost tripping, but then regaining my footing to head towards the portrait hole.

I had made it out into the hallway with medium effort and looked in either direction, trying to orient myself properly.

"Come on," George said, instantly appearing again at my side.

"George!" I shrieked excitedly before grabbing onto his arm.

"Merlin, you are drunk!" George exclaimed, clamping his hand over mine that was already looped around his arm before slowly guiding me down the stairs.

"What are you doing here, away from the party?" I asked confused, still wondering what had happened to Angelina.

"Making sure you find Cedric safely and then having a stern conversation with him that he will keep you safe," George said more seriously than I had anticipated.

I giggled, not really knowing why.

"He's scared of you," I said, before shaking my head and covering my lips with my other hand. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that!"

George laughed, "He has reason to be."

"You would hurt him?" I asked, picturing George now in a duel against a dragon.

 _Wait, weren't we talking about Cedric?_

We stopped abruptly and George put both of his hands on my arms so that I was now facing him.

"Marnie, you are my very best friend in this entire world. The thought of anyone ever hurting you makes me too angry to even contemplate, and I know Fred feels the same way," he added with confidence.

I sighed, feeling my cheeks become wet before I could figure out why.

"But he's the one hurting me," I said, causing George to bow his head and sigh deeply.

"And I may not be able to forgive him for that, but I know he is hurting himself even more," George replied in a soft voice.

I stared at him, feeling my mind was too foggy and muddled to make much sense of what was going on.

"I know he cares for you deeply, you can see it with the way he always looks at you," George said again.

I looked at him confused, thinking I may have missed the first part of his new sentence.

"Fred?" I asked, feeling something rise in my chest.

George chuckled slightly, "No, I said Cedric. It's the reason I don't give him as much of a hard time as I would probably like. I know he cares for you very much."

I nodded, remembering my quest I was on to go and find my boyfriend.

"We're here Marnie," George said, lifting his hand to gesture towards the barrels.

"You have to knock," I said, already wanting to get inside and wrap my arms around Cedric.

I was hoping the dragon hadn't eaten his arm or anything. Then I shook my head, no it had only burned him.

Then I inhaled sharply, that wasn't much better if the dragon had burned off a limb, maybe I should have gotten here sooner.

"I will let you knock Marnie, you already got Fred with that prank once before," he said before he stood back.

I looked at George with a grin before turning back to the stacked barrels and knocking like I always did. When the secret door revealed itself, I could here the telltale sounds of a party. I entered and was surprised again to find George at my side. I actually felt the hushes from people as George walked into their common room. I guess his reputation was preceding him.

"Marnie!" I heard my name exclaimed excitedly before I turned and laid eyes on Cedric.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I counted all four limbs to be intact.

"George," Cedric greeted, although I could tell he was masking his confusion.

"I'm just here to make sure Marnie is taken care of, she definitely had a few drinks at the party for Harry."

Cedric looked at me and smiled.

"Thank George, I appreciate that. Marnie won't leave my sight," Cedric replied, putting his arm around me in the process.

George nodded before giving me one last smile and disappearing out of the secret door.

Once George was outside, he started to walk back towards his own common room despite his known follower. This individual was never as stealthy as they thought they were.

"What are you doing here?" George asked in an exhausted sounding tone, despite being wide awake.

Fred stepped out of the shadows and quickened his pace so he was walking in step with his twin.

"I saw Marnie tumbling out of the common room and wanted to make sure nothing happened to her," Fred shrugged.

"And I'm sure you noticed me follow her, or at least realized I pretty much led her all the way to the Hufflepuff common room," George replied sharply.

"I did, but I still had to know," Fred said in an anguished voice.

"You heard her?" George asked, already knowing the answer.

He turned his gaze slightly to look at his twin, who had a few silent tears running down his face. George had argued with Fred too many times to count by this point about convincing his stubborn brother to swallow his pride and apologize to Marnie. But George feared that so long as Cedric was in the picture, Fred would continue to punish himself for loving Marnie by keeping his distance. It was completely insane, not to mention it was hurting Marnie just as much in the process, but George assumed that Fred didn't even contemplate how deeply his own feelings ran for Marnie.

George and his heart broken twin walked back to their common room in silence, feeling the weight of their best friend's absence on their shoulders.

XXX

Once George had gone out of sight, I was swept away into the less rowdy party. We landed on another makeshift dance floor where Cedric began swaying me around pressed up against his chest.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, my brave champion," I said, still leaning into the warmth of his chest and feeling each of his breaths press against my cheek.

"I didn't expect you until later, I'm sure the Gryffindors held a hell of a party for Harry," he said in an easy tone.

There was no hint of jealousy or annoyance in Cedric's voice which always made me love him even more. He knew I loved him, but I had my own allegiances to my house and my family.

"But, don't think I'm letting you leave so easily," Cedric whispered and squeezed his arms tighter around me.

"Well, this is exactly where I want to be," I said, continuing to let him lead me in a slow dance, despite the quick pace of the song.

It wasn't even so much of a dance as an easy swaying with our bodies pressed up against one another. We stayed like this for an unknown amount of time before Cedric's friends coerced him away for more celebrations. Cedric, in turn pulled me along as he was congratulated by his housemates and some other Ravenclaws who had crashed the party.

At some point I finally found a seat, and once I sat down, I felt as if I would never be able to get up.

Cedric was only a short distance away, talking with Liam, and turned his worried gaze towards me every few minutes.

"Come with me love," Cedric said once he ended his conversation with Liam and people had started to filter towards their beds.

I figured no Gryffindor would dare be in bed yet, but we were probably an entirely different breed.

"Where are we going?" I asked, hearing the whining in my voice since I didn't want to walk all the way back across the castle.

"Not far," he said with a wink before leading me up a set of stairs instead of back out through the common room door.

We reached a similar looking door like the one's in the Gryffindor towers and Cedric opened it to reveal five four-poster beds with yellow curtains instead of red.

I stopped, feeling my heart skip as I thought of my mother and that she would have called one of these beds her own all those years ago.

"We're just here to sleep," Cedric said, mistaking my pause for trepidation.

I smiled and looked up at him.

"I know, but I wouldn't mind if you wrapped your arms around me," I said before planting a kiss on his cheek.

He smiled and gave me his quidditch jersey which ended up being a nightgown on me.

I then ran at him once I came out of the lavatory and jumped onto the bed he was already lying on.

"Calm down little lion," Cedric said with a smile, trying to move out of the way of my discombobulated movements.

"Alright little badger," I replied, lying down beside him and burrowing under the covers.

Cedric closed the curtains before he settled down and pulled me closer to him. I felt him wince before he moved into a better position.

"Did the dragon really hurt you?" I asked in a whisper, remembering the sheer fright I had felt watching him become covered in flames.

"A little, but Madam Pomfrey healed me up all right," he replied, running his hand through my hair to move it aside and run his lips over my ear.

I felt shivers run down my spine as I nestled even closer into him. He exhaled a deep breath which covered me in warmth before he settled his head back onto his pillow with me wrapped tightly in his arms.

"I wouldn't have been able to handle watching you take on a dragon," Cedric whispered, already drifting off to sleep.

"Yea, but I would have been the greatest champion!" I said, causing him to chuckle into my hair.

"My little lion, the greatest champion," he replied again before I knew he was asleep.

I felt my own eyelids becoming heavy before falling into a comfortable sleep.

"Good morning my little badger," I heard someone say over my head.

"Cedric?" I asked but didn't feel the words escape my lips.

"Don't get her confused, she's going to be a lion!" I heard another voice say, causing my eyes to flash open.

I looked up and saw a much younger Sirius standing over me beside a mobile of quidditch pieces which hung over my bed… was I in a crib?

I looked around me and stopped when I noticed a little toddler lying next to me with black hair—that must be Harry.

A woman came into my view, the one who must have called me little badger. It was of course my mother.

"There is nothing wrong with Hufflepuff!" my mother chastised Sirius who was pulling a now awake Harry into his arms.

"Listen Lena, you and Penn were the only formidable Hufflepuffs I have ever met and I think that was just a fluke," Sirius replied cheekily.

I watched as my mum shook her head and was now bending down to pick me up.

"You can be anything you put your mind to little badger," she said with a kind smile before planting a kiss on my cheek.

I moved my hand to where I had just felt my mother's lips. Her kind face and warm embrace sent tears to my eyes, but of course none fell. I could only feel the smile I was giving my mother.

"Well, Harry here is going to be a champion lion!" Sirius exclaimed, raising him over his head which brought Harry into a fit of laughter.

"No! I am the greatest champion!" I exclaimed loudly, causing everyone else in the room to pause.

"Right you are love, right you are," Sirius said proudly, coming over and kissing my cheek.

"Better get these two champions ready for breakfast," my mother said happily as I watched Sirius carry Harry out of the room.

I then opened my eyes and saw that light was filtering through the yellow curtains. Cedric's arms were still across my waist which caused me to lean into him.

"You up Marnie?" Cedric asked in a groggy voice.

"Five more minutes!" I moaned, causing him to laugh.

"Better get up love, we need to go down and get some breakfast."

"Alright," I conceded, before finding my robes from yesterday pressed and folded at the end of the bed.

 _Man, I owed Posy big time. She sure had my back—and had a devious side._

XXX

"What do you mean Marnie never came back last night?" Fred heard his twin shouting from down in the common room.

He froze in place as Harry and Ron dashed past him on the stairs.

"What?!" the two younger boys asked as Angelina sighed and filled them in.

Seconds later I heard everyone exit, which caused me to follow right behind at a safer distance. Everyone made it down to the Great Hall and let out an audible sigh of relief when we all saw Marnie sitting with Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"Where were you?!" Angelina asked as she sat beside her best friend.

"Erm—I was hoping you didn't notice. I fell asleep at Cedric's. AND BEFORE YOU SAY ANTYTHING, ALL WE DID WAS SLEEP!" Marnie said definitively before anyone made a fuss.

Fred felt his chest relax as he took a seat at the far end of the group beside Lee.

"That woman is a right old beast!" Marnie further exclaimed moments after Hermione had shown her something in the Daily Prophet.

Marnie flung the paper onto the table where Angelina picked it up and read it aloud.

"Young Hogwarts student, Marnie O'Hara attaches herself to as many champions as she can get her hands on after being rejected as a champion herself. The seventeen-year-old girl, obviously hungry for a shot at fame after living in the cast shadow of her adoptive brother, probably entered Harry's name if only to amp up her family's legacy. Now dating Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts'rightful champion, she sets her eyes on more glory to make up for the loss of her mother and the poor status of her father…"

Angelina stopped reading at this point while Marnie sat seething.

"Just forget it," Hermione said, but her advice fell on deaf ears.

Fred knew that anything that had to do with her father, but especially her mother hit a sensitive topic for Marnie. Plus, of course nothing that cow had written was true.

Fred clenched his fists and saw Angelina crumple up the paper in solidarity.

"Attention, Gryffindors!" Professor McGonagall shouted which stopped anymore discussion of the article. "Everyone, follow me please."

Every Gryffindor student followed suit, not ever daring to go against McGonagall's orders. She led them all down to a vacant classroom which had an old gramophone cued up in the center.

"What the bloody hell?" Fred heard his brother Ron whisper under his breath to Harry.

Everyone was now lined up against the wall and faced McGonagall who was standing in the center of the room.

"Now, as a part of the tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, there is to be the Yule Ball, held on Christmas Eve," McGonagall announced, causing a heavy silence to fall across the students.

"Now, as is obvious, the Yule Ball is indeed, a dance. And as part of this tradition, each of the champions will open the ball by initiating the first dance before the rest of everyone can join in. And I will not have any of my student acting like a bunch of buffoons in front of the other schools or houses. Now, grab a partner," she ordered before starting the music from the gramophone.

The boys were all standing with their backs pressed against the wall. Neville, a little surprisingly, was the first to step forward. He grabbed Ginny's hand in a friendly manner and escorted her to the center of the room where McGonagall proceeded to give them instructions.

Fred looked around and saw that Angelina was the closest girl standing near him, so he grabbed her hand in turn and dragged her out near Neville; maybe to keep an eye on his younger sister.

"May I?" George asked from beside me with a smile.

I took his hand and was led out towards the other pairs of semi-frightened Gryffindors who were all dancing under McGonagall's instruction.

"I thought you would be with Ange," I replied slyly once George was leading me in a waltz.

He sighed rather dejectedly and then I noticed her dancing with Fred.

"What a git!" I said rather angrily, knowing George had been harbouring some feelings for Ange since last year.

"He must know!" I said, wanting to storm over there.

"He does," George said simply.

At this point I was fuming so George led me away from the pair of them, obviously not wanting to engage like I was gearing up to do.

"I would much rather be dancing with you love," George said in a dapper tone.

I laughed. "And why is that?"

"Because Ron was going to ask you instead."

It was my turn to laugh. "I wouldn't have minded."

George raised his eyebrows in disbelief but then continued to dramatically lead me all around the dancefloor before McGonagall had had enough and sent us on our way, but not before almost threatening me to carry the Gryffindor name proudly when I danced with Cedric on Christmas Eve.


	55. The Ball

"You look a little green there Harry," George said after we all returned from our dancing lesson.

"Well, now I don't have a choice but to get a date," Harry said with a sulking look.

"Well, your big sister here also gets to start the dance off," Angelina added giving me a knowing look.

"Don't remind me!" I said, bringing my head into my hands.

"At least you know you've got a date. I have to go find someone who will not only agree to attend the dance with me but also who will be willing to perform the first dance," Harry sulked further.

I looked over to see Ginny was sitting on the couch beside us. Her head was bent over a book but I wasn't convinced that she wasn't listening in on our conversation.

"Come on Harry, let's go for supper," Ron said, coming over to collect his best friend.

I watched as Hermione joined them and all three fourth years left the common room. Ginny left a minute later with some of her dormmates. I wondered if she would have any nerve to ask Harry. Merlin knew Harry didn't have a clue and wouldn't ask her himself.

"Erm—Marnie," I looked up to see that Ginny had returned and was standing in the doorway of the common room.

"What's up Gin?" I asked curiously.

"Well, there's a certain Hogwarts champion standing out here waiting for you," she replied with a knowing grin.

I could feel my cheeks turning beet red as my friends all snickered at me.

"Thanks Ginny," I said, standing up and feeling everyone's attention still on me.

I quickly ran out of the common room and was met by Cedric who was standing right beside the fat lady's portrait.

"Merlin, I've been waiting ages for you," Cedric greeted with a smug look.

"Well I never asked for you to be waiting for me," I quickly retorted with my own sly look.

I knew he was just trying to give me a hard time, but he was foolish to think that I had lasted this long with Fred and George without developing my own quick tongue.

"Well, does that mean I need to look elsewhere for my ball date then?" he asked, still baiting me with a mischievous look.

"Wait, you're really asking me? I thought it was obvious?" I asked, being caught off guard by his comment.

"My girlfriend deserves as many displays of affection as I can afford," he said, the mischievous look turning into one more sincere.

I stepped closer so that I was standing right in front of the boy with dark blonde hair and caramel coloured eyes.

"And what do I get if I say yes?" I asked, not letting him off the hook so easily.

He surprisingly took another step even closer. There was hardly any space left between us now.

"A night you will never forget," he whispered as he bent down and spoke directly into my ear.

"I'll be the judge of that," I managed to choke out.

He stepped back, giving me a wink before taking my face in his hands and bringing his lips to mine. It started off soft before he pressed himself closer, adding pressure to his kiss. A soft moan escaped my lips which only seemed to egg him on. His arms wrapped even tighter around me and I was now leaning back against the wall as he pressed his body to mine.

It was a few moments later by the time he took a slight step back and let me go.

"I'll make sure that the ball feels just like that. The same as when I have you in my arms," he said before completely extricating himself from me and heading back down the stairs.

"Wait! You're not going to walk me to dinner?" I asked, confused about his sudden retreat.

"Well, of course I want to Marnie, but I have a feeling your friends over there want to ask you some questions," Cedric said with a smirk before waving and quickly walking away.

I slowly turned to see Angelina, Katie and Alicia sticking their heads out of the common room with evil looking grins.

"How long have you been standing there?!" I asked, feeling my embarrassment and fury both increase.

"Come on Marnie, you have to give us all the details!" Alicia squealed, jumping towards me and pulling me along towards the Great Hall.

As the week went on, each of my friends were asked by their respective dates to the ball. Lee was the first to ask Katie. I was told it wasn't as heated as when Cedric asked me which made me blush all through my morning's classes that I shared with my friends. I had already gone off on them for spying on my while Cedric asked me to the dance. Apparently my love life provided entertainment for the entire group.

Alicia was next when surprisingly one of the Durmstrang boys asked her. Lee and George seemed put off by this, but she seemed really excited about it. They had chatted a couple of times in charms class and really hit it off.

The next pairing of my friends was the last and it had given me even more reason to be furious with Fred. We had all been sitting in study hall where Ron was giving both twins flack for not having dates. I had known who George wanted to ask, but he hadn't been too keen to act on it.

"Oi, Ange!" I had looked up when Fred had whispered down towards us and threw a wad of parchment at her.

All of my friends had slowly started to talk to Fred again in their own time, mostly because it had been four months since Fred had gone off on me and their anger had subsided. Fred still seemed adamant though on freezing me out and so long as he didn't apologize about how he had treated me and didn't respect my choice in boyfriend I wasn't cutting him any slack.

Ange gave him a look of annoyance since she now had ink splattered across her notes.

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" he whispered again.

I watched as Angelina lit up and agreed with a definitive nod.

I could feel myself fuming as I turned to look over at George. I could tell he was upset but he met my gaze and shook his head, telling me to let it go.

I huffed and turned back to my paper, although I wasn't paying attention to my notes anymore. It was mostly so no one else would catch my eye and ask why I seemed so angry. As much as I wanted to clobber Fred it wasn't my place if George was asking that I kept quiet.

That night didn't get any better when I was sulking into my stew and Harry came to sit beside me with a glazed look in his eyes.

"What's got you all cheery?" I asked with intrigue.

Harry had honestly been your typical anxty teen lately. Always worrying about Sirius or the tournament or his best friend freezing him out. At least he typically had a good reason for his stubborn moodiness.

"Erm—well I just asked Cho to the ball," Harry said in a voice that gave away his own level of disbelief.

"Ugh!" I said, feeling my old sentiments towards the Ravenclaw seeker come up.

I had also been hoping Harry would have half a mind to ask Ginny, or even Luna as a friend.

"Hey, I don't voice my opinions about your boyfriend!" Harry retorted sourly.

Obviously my own sour mood was bringing down his spirits.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I know how much you wanted to ask her," I replied, suppressing my shudder.

I could not see what Harry saw in her, especially after how possessive she had been over Cedric in the past. Hopefully she didn't do anything like that with Harry or I'm sure we will be going toe-to-toe in the future again.

"I'll catch up with you later," I said before standing up and retreating out of the Great Hall.

It was probably too early to go to bed, and everyone else was in a celebratory mood now that it was the last day before Christmas break. But I just felt my residual annoyance from today and didn't want to take it out on anyone else.

Harry watched as Marnie left looking rather disheartened. He looked over to see Fred watching her leave as well before averting his eyes back, hoping no one had seen him.

Harry made sure his voice was lowered so nobody else heard him since he knew it was still a delicate topic.

"Why don't you apologise to her? You know she misses you," Harry said, knowing that Fred had heard him despite his downcast gaze.

Fred sighed and clenched his fist for a moment before letting it go.

"Because I can't apologise for her loving that idiot," Fred responded.

Harry couldn't help thinking Fred was only telling him a half truth.

"Well, coming from experience, she's more torn up than she's letting on," Harry said before finishing with his own plate of food.

"I know," Fred replied in a hoarse whisper.

Harry let it go since he felt Fred had stubbornly made up his mind. He just hoped that when Fred did finally come around Marnie would actually hear him out.

XXX

"Alicia, can you help me with my zipper?" Katie asked as she held her purple dress against her chest so it wouldn't fall.

Katie's dress was strapless and had a sort of shimmering quality from the fabric. The waist was also cinched with a belt and flowed outward in the skirt.

Alicia went to aid our dormmate wearing her own bright coloured dress. I know she had said it was some odd colour that made it sound like a vegetable. But, despite the absurd colour name the bright red pastel made the otherwise pale blonde witch look vibrant. The dress also had some straps that fell off her shoulders and had a fairly straight skirt which extended down to her shins.

"You both look so beautiful!" Angelina gushed as she entered the room wearing a shimmering gold dress.

Ange had been fixing her makeup in the lavatory and was now all done up in her floor length dress with only one strap and a cinched waste. Ange's skirt was more similar to Alicia's since it also hugged her body all the way down.

"Well, I don't think I can quite compete with Marnie over there," Katie said, looking over to where I was sitting and waiting for the others to be ready.

My mother's old dress was really something. It was a deep sapphire colours that apparently made it look as if my orange eyes were on fire. Alicia had also insisted on pinning up my hair instead of wearing it down over my shoulders like normal.

The dress also had decorative buttons that were also a deep blue running up the center of the bodice with silver embroidered edges.

"Are you three ready?" I asked, not liking anymore attention put on me than they already had.

Ange laughed. "Just take the compliment Marne, you can go back to being a pumpkin tomorrow."

I stuck my tongue out at her but smiled at her remark. I knew she was just trying to unease my nerves. I had been a wreck all day today with the realization that I had to dance with Cedric while everyone else watched.

"Alright, I think we are all set to go," Alicia said in an excited voice.

I did have to agree, that despite the few minutes of humiliation I had to endure, the rest of the night should be pretty spectacular. Apparently Hogwarts had gone all out for this and even hired the Weird Sisters for this evening's festivities.

We walked single file out of our dorm and down the stairs into the common room.

Lee whistled once Katie first came into view. I looked down to see the three boys were all waiting for us. Fred looked up and grinned at Angelina who I saw returned the gesture with a blush. I vowed I wouldn't let Fred's stupidity ruin my evening. I also didn't want Ange to get hurt so I was giving this a chance.

"Come on guys!" Alicia pleaded as she was already standing beside the exit.

It seemed she was eager to go and meet her date Geofri.

George had stepped away from the other two boys who were both extending their arms for their respective dates.

"Can I escort you to the ball milady?" George asked in a chivalrous tone.

I laughed, but still extended my arm for him to take.

"I need to make sure the princess reaches her prince charming in time for the ball," George goaded further.

"You're being ridiculous!" I giggled as he led me out of the common room.

"Hey, I have a ridiculous reputation to live up to. Plus, it doesn't hurt to enter the dance with the prettiest girl there on my arm," he added more sincerely.

I blushed at his rather bold statement and let him continue leading me. We both hung back as the others walked ahead of us.

"Hey, can I have the second dance? You know, after you open the ball and everything," George asked.

"Umm, sure," I replied, being taken aback again my him.

I knew I would eventually dance with George and maybe even Lee at some point, but I found it surprising that George was actually requesting a particular dance. We were now walking down the front steps and I could see Cedric standing off to the side with Liam and Natalie. Those two were also at the ball as each other's dates which I knew they were really excited about.

"You better go get him before McGonagall comes and drags you by the ear for being late," George chuckled.

I smiled but proceeded towards Cedric since I figured what George had said held some merit.

Cedric met my gaze as I stepped off the staircase and headed towards him. He eagerly approached and I noticed he had a winter flower in his hand.

"For you Marnie," he said before pinning it to the front of my dress robe.

It was small enough to look like a brooch and made me smile from ear to ear. I had no idea how he even got the thing, but it always seemed like Cedric planned for anything.

"Champions! Line up please with your dates!" McGonagall came rushing over and we obliged before we could be reprimanded.

Cedric and I fell in step behind Harry and Cho and I couldn't help feeling a sense of annoyance. But it quickly dissipated when Cedric squeezed my hand and I looked over at him with a smile. Once we were on the dance floor I took a moment to look over at the other two champions. My jaw dropped when I saw that Viktor Krum was here with none other than Hermione Granger and she looked utterly stunning. I wondered how Ron was doing going stag while his other two best friends got their dream dates. But, I didn't have anymore time to think before the music started and Cedric proceeded to lead me around the dance floor. I could hear the soft awes from people as they looked onward at the four champions gliding around the dancefloor in their finery. I must admit, I would have liked to see how we looked. My embarrassment disappeared while I just looked at Cedric. He had a huge grin on his face which felt contagious. It was also like his eyes were sparkling in the candlelight and I felt like he had me enraptured.

"You're like a midnight fairy Marnie," Cedric whispered as he tightened his grip on my shoulder and waste.

I squeezed my own hands and let him guide me until the song ended. I then leaned up and kissed him as we disappeared in the crowd of others who had joined the dancefloor.

"I have to go find George!" I yelled over the music of the next song.

"Already?" Cedric asked disheartened.

I could see the flicker of disappointment on his face.

"Why don't you go get us a drink and I'll be done by the time you get back?" I asked him with a smile.

This perked him up before he planted a kiss on my cheek. "Then the rest of the night is mine."

I felt flustered by his comment and could only smile and nod. He then disappeared into the crowd as I watched him go.

"Ready?" I heard George come up behind me.

I turned around and nodded before he took my hands and guided me out for the fast-paced waltz.

"He really cares for you doesn't he?" George asked with a knowing grin.

I couldn't help my blush from creeping back up.

"Yea," was all I could manage. "How about you and Angelina?"

I watched as George sighed and we both turned our heads to where she was dancing with Fred.

"He's being a real git this year," I said in annoyance.

George nodded with a small smile. "You don't see it do you?"

"See what?" I asked skeptically.

"How he feels about you," George replied with almost a pained look.

George hadn't brought up anything about Fred's side in all this for the past four months. I was floored that he was bringing it up now.

"Marnie, think of the way he's treated you since the first day he met you," George replied with a look in his eyes like it was obvious or something.

"He's treated me like you have," I replied uneasily.

George sighed again. "We both know that isn't the case."

The song ended and George let go with a sad smile. "You two are both hopeless. But I know you really care for Cedric and Fred is just being Fred. He's slow on the uptake and now he's taking it out by messing with my feelings."

George looked again at Angelina and Fred. I still couldn't believe Fred could ask her when of course him and George had talked about George's feelings on the matter. But what was all this about Fred's feelings concerning me?

"Marnie, you ready?" I heard Cedric from behind me again.

I turned around with a smile and took the glass of punch from his hands. I looked back one more time at George who only smiled in return. I smiled back only to be led away by Cedric.

We were now sitting with our drinks as we heard the Weird Sisters being announced to the stage.

"Can we go?" I asked excitedly.

"Whatever you want love," Cedric replied with an easy smile.

I led him to the dance floor where he proceeded to wrap his arms around my waist and brought me close to him. It didn't matter that it was a fast song or that everyone was crowding around us. He was right, he was making sure this night felt the same as being in his arms. We swayed in easy circles. Sometimes he would twirl me around or bring me even closer to his body after dipping me down slightly. When he did this he would bring my cheek to his and kiss me. We stayed like this while we began to sway again. I didn't know what time it was until I looked up to see that quite a few people had left. The Weird Sisters had ended their set and there was just some jazz music playing on the gramophone now.

"Is the night over?" I asked, leaning back to look him in the eyes. "I don't really want it to end."

He smiled and kissed me on the lips softly. "Let's make it last a little longer."

He grabbed my hand and led me out to the Great Hall. I just let him lead me and didn't question anything until we were standing in his dorm room. He grabbed his quidditch jersey again and gave it to me to go change.

"Erm, can you unzip me?" I asked sheepishly.

He smiled softly. He brought one of his hands and placed it delicately on my shoulder while the other one undid the zipper all the way to my lower back. Then he retracted his hands and I walked forward into the lavatory. When I returned he was sitting, wearing a t-shirt and shorts, at the foot of his bed. I walked up so I was standing in front of him and he pulled me down so that I was laying on top of him. He just stared up at me and brought his hand to move the hair from my face. He smiled more deeply before rolling me over to the side. Then we both crawled under the covers. I got comfortable on my side while he enveloped me in his arms and brought my back into his chest.

I felt my exhaustion take hold as I felt his patterned breathing on my back.

"You are so beautiful Marnie. I am so in love with you," he whispered.

"I love you too Cedric," I whispered back before I let the sleep take hold of me.

The night still hadn't ended, so long as I was still in his arms.


	56. Second Task

"Have you figured out the egg yet?" I asked Cedric one morning as we walked to class together.

It had been nearly two months since the Yule Ball, and I hadn't really brought up the Triwizard Tournament since then.

"Yea, I figured it out ages ago," he replied rather smugly. "And don't worry, I already gave Harry a hint."

I blushed in response. "I wasn't going to say anything about Harry. Plus, I told him not to tell you about the dragons anyways so I wouldn't expect you to do him any favours."

Cedric stopped and gave me a trying look. "Glad to see where your loyalties lie."

I knew he wasn't really being serious since he was now smiling and began leading me again towards our Care of Magical Creatures class.

"I'm really happy that Hagrid's back," I said as we neared the grounds and I could see him outside near the pens

"Yea, and I'm happy we don't have to raise those skrewts anymore," Cedric replied.

I couldn't help but agree, the skrewts had gotten out of control. Not only did come to burn everyone on a regular basis but they had also started killing each other. Apparently there were only two left that Hagrid had stowed away further back on the grounds.

So instead we spent the class learning about thestrals. It was really interesting to see the invisible creatures eating the slabs of meat we through into the glen for them. Apparently only those who had seen death could visibly see thestrals. I shuddered and prayed that I would never be able to see them despite my curiosity.

"Want to meet up with me after my dinner rounds?" Cedric asked as we headed back up towards the school after class.

"Yea, sounds good. If you want to come to the library I'll be studying," I replied, and Cedric nodded.

After dinner that night I made my way to the library to finish my charms paper and to wait for Cedric to come find me. Once I arrived I saw Harry, Ron and Hermione looking pretty miserable so decided to go and help them instead. But before I could ask them if they needed help, McGonagall approached all of us with a grim expression.

"O'Hara, Weasley, Granger. I need you to all follow me to Professor Dumbledore's office," she ordered before shaking her head at Harry. "Not you Potter, just these three."

I looked back to see Harry's frown worsen. I was worried about him since the second task was tomorrow and no doubt that's what he was anxious about. Both he and Cedric also hadn't told me what this task was going to be, so I had hoped that it would be more straight forward than fighting a dragon.

McGonagall led us to the headmaster's office. We all remained silent, picking up on McGonagall's impatient mood. Once we got to the staircase she gave the password, which was cauldron cakes, and allowed the three of us to go up. Hermione knocked on the door before we heard Dumbledore's voice call for us to enter.

"Isn't that Fleur's younger sister?" Ron asked to Hermione who nodded in confirmation.

"Good evening everyone. I know that you are all aware that the second task is tomorrow and I am regretful to say that this task entails each of the champions to venture into the Black Lake and retrieve something that has been taken from them to which they hold dear," Dumbledore explained with a similar expression to McGonagall when she had collected us.

I surveyed the four of us in the room and gasped when I came to my own conclusion. It was obvious with Fleur's sister being here that she would be the _lost item_ for Fleur to retrieve. This most likely meant that I would be used for Cedric, Ron would be for Harry and Hermione for Viktor.

"I'm afraid Miss O'Hara has deduced the situation gauging from her reaction. Each of you will be put under a protective sleeping enchantment that will only be broken once the champions successfully rescue each of you and bring you to the surface of the Black Lake," Dumbledore continued.

We all stood there dumbfounded, knowing we couldn't argue against it.

"Without further adieu, if you would Miss O'Hara?" Dumbledore asked, extending his arm for me to approach where he was now standing.

The last thing I remember was Dumbledore extending his wand up towards me before everything went dark.

" _Accio_ Marnie!" Fred commanded fervently in a hushed voice since he still wanted to keep up appearances that he was still upset with Marnie.

That was true right now, but for a completely different reason. Where the bloody hell was she?!

"That spell doesn't work on people, mate," George put his hand consolingly on his twin's shoulder.

However, George also felt in need of his own comfort. He didn't have a clue as to where their best friend had run off to. Plus, her brother and boyfriend were champions in this thing, surely she wouldn't miss it.

"Where do you think she could be?" Angelina asked in her own worried tone.

George looked over at her and inadvertently smiled before showing his concern. After the Yule Ball, nothing else became of her and Fred, much to George's own selfish approval.

"Are you sure she didn't come back at all to the dorm last night?" Fred asked for the dozenth time.

"Yes Fred!" Katie huffed in irritation.

"Maybe she stayed at Cedric's again?" Alicia posed the most logical explanation, despite her own fears.

Marnie had disappeared before and it usually meant Flint had done something to her. But the Slytherin bully hadn't really threatened Marnie lately, especially after Cedric apparently told him off.

"Hey guys," the group heard a familiar voice come up from behind them.

They were all assembled at the Gryffindor table as they ate their breakfasts before heading out to watch the second task.

"Cedric?" Angelina asked, never knowing Cedric to really come up to them without Marnie.

"Have you guys seen Marnie? I was supposed to meet up with her last night after my prefect rounds and I never found her," Cedric stated, feeling unsettled by being stood up by his girlfriend.

"You mean she didn't spend the night with you?" Angelina countered, feeling her fear sink deeper.

"Erm—no," Cedric replied, feeling embarrassed by the insinuation since he supposed it was a fair question.

"We haven't seen her since dinner!" Fred exclaimed, much to everyone's surprise.

Most of them now had figured Fred was just being stubborn over his whole argument with Marnie, but this was the first time he had mentioned anything about her in the last six months. Also, it was apparent how worried he felt.

"Really?" Cedric asked frowning in concern.

"Wait, Marnie is missing too?" they all turned to see Harry join them.

"What do you mean too?" Angelina asked curiously.

"Well, I haven't seen either Hermione or Ron since last night at the library when McGonagall asked them and Marnie to go to see the headmaster," Harry explained a little anxiously.

"Hmm, maybe Dumbledore has them doing something. I'm sure we'll see them all at the task," Cedric said a little more optimistically than he felt. "We better get out there."

Cedric looked at Harry who nodded before both of the concerned champions headed out towards the Black Lake for the second task.

Fred and the rest of Marnie's friends soon followed and tried to stave off their nerves. The twins had created a betting station which they carried around to entice the assembling students to gamble their pocket money. Once everyone was finished and waiting for the task to start from the overviewing stands, Fred and the others started to panic again.

"How are they not here yet?" Angelina asked, not seeing Ron or Hermione show up either.

"Find anything?" George asked as Neville made his way over to them.

Once he had figured out that Marnie and the other two were missing he had gone off searching for them as well.

"No sign," Neville said defeatedly.

"Maybe we should check the hospital wing?" Lee suggested which put the others on edge.

"We'll wait until after the task. They might still be somewhere in this crowd," Alicia reasoned to which the others agreed.

" _They're all here_!" Harry thought to himself with relief.

He had been swimming in the Black Lake for 40 minutes now and had finally found what he was supposed to retrieve. In front of him, tied to the depths of the lake were his sister and two best friends, along with another young girl.

No sooner had Harry come across the underwater clearing that he felt someone come up behind him. He looked over to see Cedric with his own determined look. Cedric met Harry's gaze and motioned to the watch on his wrist that time was running out.

Harry nodded before Cedric take a knife from his pocket and freed his sister. Harry let himself feel relieved that Marnie would be safe despite not saving her himself.

"Wait, do you see something?" George asked as the smooth surface of the lake started to ripple again.

"Oh Merlin, it's Marnie!" Fred shouted despite everyone giving him knowing looks.

"Wait, they put her under water?" Angelina asked, feeling miffed over the treatment of her friend.

"Let's go down!" George suggested, leading his friends down the stairs of the stands towards the lower platform.

By the time George and Angelina made it beside Marnie she was wrapped in a large towel but was still shivering.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Lee asked, feeling both relieved and perplexed by the situation.

"We were the lost items the champions had to collect," Marnie explained, allowing Cedric to drape another towel over her.

"Aren't you going to come and see if Marnie's ok?" Alicia asked Fred who was standing at the back of their group.

"He's got it," Fred replied, watching Cedric fret over Marnie.

Alicia sighed but dropped the subject. Instead she went over to Marnie and gave her a hug despite her being all wet. The other two champions came up shortly after, Harry only surfacing in the nick of time. He had apparently waited to make sure everyone came and saved both Ron and the young girl Gabrielle since Fleur had gotten herself disqualified early on.

Fred continued to watch as Marnie and the rest of his friends cheered over the fact that Harry was now tied for first place with Cedric. He also watched as Marnie threw her arms over Cedric and enveloped him in a celebratory hug. Fred turned his head before he could watch much more, but had to admit that he really missed Marnie despite Cedric still being in the picture.

"Ready to go Marnie?" I heard Alicia ask from the dorm.

I stepped out of the lavatory after putting up my hair and followed them out. It was another Hogsmeade weekend and we were all planning to go down as a group to get some butterbeers at The Three Broomsticks. Cedric was hanging out with Liam and Natalie who were all going to stop by and join us later on.

"So, I think Fred's going to be joining us," Alicia said as they all headed out of the common room to meet the guys in Hogsmeade.

They had apparently gone off earlier to check out Zonko's before meeting us all at the pub.

"Yea, why wouldn't he be there?" I asked, not at all surprised.

Despite that he hadn't said a word to me since late September, Fred was always nearby. He still went everywhere with George and Lee and was friendly enough with the other girls. It was almost like everything was back to normal except for the fact that he still wouldn't apologise. I saw as Katie rolled her eyes, but no one said anything else. All three of them knew my stance, I wasn't really mad anymore, but I also felt I had nothing to apologise for. I was still hurt by Fred and didn't want to give him a clean slate if he thought he didn't do anything wrong. Then what was to stop him from going off on me again in the future? And it wasn't like I was planning on Cedric going anywhere which I felt is what Fred ideally wanted.

Our get together at The Three Broomsticks went as expected. We all chatted and laughed while Fred ignored me. Cedric and his friends did eventually join us which thankfully went better than I expected. My friends all accepted the three Hufflepuffs into our conversation and I saw them visibly relax as the afternoon wore on. Sometimes I forgot that Gryffindor was not known as being the nice and friendly house, especially when conversing with other houses. As the overly competitive group of Gryffindor quidditch players, I admitted that they must be a bit intimidating.

Once we noticed the sun starting to make its way down the horizon we stood up and paid our separate bills. We then paired off and slowly made our way back to the school. Cedric had his hand in mine as we enjoyed each other's silence. That's when I saw them- Harry, Ron and Hermione walking into town with a big, black dog at their side.

"Sirius?" I asked out loud, feeling an array of emotions swell up.

Fred and George also stopped from their position ahead of me. They knew they were the only ones I had ever confided in about Sirius Black not being an escaped murderer but a close family friend who had been wrongfully convicted.

"Sirius?" Cedric asked confused, not understanding what that name had to do with this situation.

George doubled back for some damage control.

"I am offended that you could ever think I could serious about anything Marnie," George thought quickly on his feet and knew it wasn't his best work.

But he grinned at the confused expression on Cedric's face which is all he had been going for. He knew Marnie wouldn't want to have to explain the very complex situation about the dog Harry was walking with and that it was actually Harry's godfather.

"Marnie, is that the dog we saw last year?" Cedric asked again, noticing that Harry, Hermione and Ron were all frozen at being spotted by this particular group.

Sirius growled, not liking that Marnie was still hanging out with this particular boy.

"Right," I said, taking George's weak excuse and turning to Cedric. "Yea, maybe. I don't really know what's going on, but can I meet up with you later?"

I turned to Cedric who looked concerned but nodded. He kissed my cheek, to which I heard another growl from the animagus, before Cedric jogged to catch up to Liam and Natalie.

"Come on guys, I'm starving, and I want to make sure we get something good to eat," Fred added lamely but everyone else agreed with the added nudge from George.

This left Marnie standing with the black dog and three fourth years.

"You didn't tell me?" I asked, looking angrily at Harry.

"I didn't want Cedric or the others to get suspicious by your absence," Harry voiced his reasoning but felt more unsure of it now than when he had initially explained himself to Ron and Hermione.

"He's my family too!" I shouted, feeling tears stinging my eyes before I ran back towards the school.

I knew I was bringing too much attention to our group which was already suspicious looking with the return of the Grimm looking dog in Hogsmeade.

Sirius watched as Lena's daughter ran away from the group and started to whine. He hadn't initially asked Harry why Marnie hadn't joined the others but had self-doubted himself that maybe she hadn't wanted to see him. But it turned out Harry hadn't invited her at all. Sirius continued to whine and nipped at Harry's fingers in retribution.

Harry brought his bitten hand up in the air and shook it.

"Yea, yea. I'll go talk to her," Harry sulked, feeling guilty in his overall decision.

He would at least tell Marnie all about Barty Crouch and Sirius' suspicions of his largely absent behaviour from the Triwizard tournament. All he could do was hope she forgave him for his huge oversight. He should have known she would react this way, Sirius was as much her family as he was Harry's. Looking over, Hermione gave him an I-told-you-so sort of look while Ron looked after Marnie with a sad sort of expression. Harry sighed, not looking back at how disappointed Sirius was before running after Marnie to go apologise.


	57. The Fallen Champion

It had been months since the second task and my argument with Harry. This time I was reluctant to forgive him so easily since his reasoning seemed a bit thin. I mean I understood that we needed to keep Sirius' sudden residence near Hogsmeade a secret, but I could have gotten George to cover for me. Who knows, maybe George could have even recruited Fred to help since Sirius was involved. I knew no matter how angry Fred was with me that he would never use Sirius against me or out him to the others.

"Good morning," George said sleepily as he and Fred joined us for breakfast later than usual.

"Did you get to sleep late again last night?" I asked, knowing both him and Fred were regularly staying up into the early hours of the morning.

George was vague with the details whenever I asked about it, but I knew he was holding something back. It was driving me mad and I had half a mind to ream Fred out again. I knew he must be to blame for George keeping secrets from me.

George shrugged without answering as he helped himself to some eggs and sausages.

I sighed, returning to reading the Daily Prophet I had out in front of me. I ignored all the horrible articles written by Rita Skeeter but wanted to keep an eye out for anything suspicious like Sirius had warned in his last letter. I knew Sirius had a theory about why Harry had been dragged into the Triwizard Tournament but was also being quite vague on the matter. And then Harry had his run-in with Mr. Crouch who mentioned Voldemort getting stronger; I had been on edge ever since.

"Erm- Marnie?" I heard my name being said quietly from beside me.

I looked over to see that Ron and Harry had taken the empty seats to my right. They were both wearing concerned looks which piqued my interest.

"Everything alright with you two?" I asked, trying not to sound snappish.

Harry and I had formally made up a few weeks after the Sirius incident but I knew I was still holding a grudge. I could tell Harry also knew since he always looked guilty whenever he was around me.

"Can we ask you something?" Ron started in a lowered voice.

"Sure," I replied, putting down the paper that had no news of anything suspicious.

"Can we walk you to class?" Ron continued.

Obviously this was a little more serious than I initially thought. I nodded and let the two boys lead me out of the Great Hall. I also found it strange that Ron seemed to be the one asking me the questions. I hoped he hadn't done anything else stupid to upset Hermione. When news of him going off on Hermione at the Yule Ball had gotten out I had whacked him over the head.

"Have you noticed anything odd about George lately? I know you're still not talking to Fred yet…" Ron started without any prompting once we were walking through the Entrance Hall.

"How do you mean odd?" I asked, wanting to know more specifically what Ron knew before I showed my hand.

I also knew that the twins were never that open about their problems with Ron or really anyone else, so I didn't want to out them just yet. But of course, with the late nights and odd behaviour I was also suspicious of them.

"Well, we caught them in the owlery the other day and it seemed like they might be trying to blackmail someone for money," Ron admitted, looking overly concerned for his brothers.

I frowned and thought to how the twins were still working towards their dream of opening a joke shop. I wasn't nearly as involved since my falling out with Fred but George at least kept me up-to-date on their product ideas. I still helped George out here and there whenever he had questions on potions or charms for a new product idea. I also knew that money was always tight which is why I had invested some of my own funds during the summer, but that had been months ago.

 _The bet…_

I thought to myself about how they had won that bet against Ludo Bagman, but now come to think of it, I don't think they had ever gotten the money. I assumed George would have told me if they had, he probably wouldn't have helped his boasting. Maybe that's why they had been so secretive lately and maybe why blackmail had come up… they wanted their money and life's savings back.

"I'm sure it was a trick Ron, George and Fred wouldn't do something so idiotic like break the law," I replied, thinking this didn't concern the two boys.

But I sure as hell was going to have a word with them- or at least George who could be my proxy to Fred.

"Are you sure Marnie? You can tell us. Plus, Ron is really concerned," Harry stepped in, knowing I was probably leaving them in the dark.

"Well, like you, I don't share everything that's important," I shot back before turning to walk away.

I didn't want to thwart their prying anymore and found the underhanded opportunity to crack at Harry. I knew I should forgive him and act like older sisters were supposed to, but this time I felt hurt. I also felt like I hadn't really received a good enough apology. At least Harry did apologise but I knew he still felt he had done the right thing and I whole-heartedly disagreed.

I stomped off towards Transfiguration and spent the entire lecture looking between the twins who sat in front of me. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense that this is what they had been so secretive about for the entire year. I felt stupid for not figuring it out sooner and a little guilty that maybe I hadn't been paying enough attention to the twins like I always had. Maybe this whole thing with Harry and Cedric being Triwizard champions really was taking up a lot of my time. Was that what Fred was so mad about? I mean wasn't a best friend supposed to figure all of this out sooner and maybe even swallow her own pride to fight for Fred as a friend?

My stomach started to knot so that by the end of class I wasn't very hungry. Instead of going to lunch with the rest of my friends I headed back up to the common room since I didn't have anymore classes for the day. I pulled out my notes and laid them out in front of me on one of the desks set up in the common room. Hardly anyone else was here since lunch was being served. I tried to block out my doubts from this almost year long feud while looking over my revision notes for the upcoming exams.

"Why aren't you downstairs eating?" George asked, taking the seat beside me and looking exhausted.

"I could ask the same of you," I replied, seeing that he looked pretty terrible.

"Fred and I decided our exhaustion won out against our hunger. He's already upstairs but I figured I would come over and check on you first," George said kindly.

I smiled but felt the knots in my stomach tighten.

"Is everything alright?" George asked more concerned now, probably seeing my expression change.

"Did you ever get the money from Bagman?" I asked, changing the subject away from me.

"Hmph, no," George replied sourly.

"Are you blackmailing him?" I asked, figuring there as no other way but to ask him directly.

"I guess my dear younger brother said something to you," George replied, obviously frustrated that Ron had said anything at all.

"Nevermind him. And don't worry I didn't say anything back. But George, come on, I'm your best friend. Why didn't you say anything sooner?" I asked, trying not to show how hurt I was.

George sighed, running his hand over his face in an exhausted manner.

"Merlin how did this year get so screwed up?" he asked more to himself. "You're right Marnie, I should have told you sooner. It just always seems like I'm relaying messages instead of actually talking with you. I miss it being the three of us. I figured if I took the high road and waited long enough that you two would just forgive each other already. Plus, it's the one thing Fred asked me not to say," George admitted.

"He doesn't trust me?" I asked, feeling even more hurt and guilty.

"No, I don't think that's the reason. He just didn't want you to get involved to protect you in case we resorted to anything shady," George said softly, trying to stifle his yawn.

"I'm sorry George. You're right, I should have made up with Fred before this. And I should have realised sooner what was troubling both of you. I've been thinking actually, that maybe I should take some responsibility in all of this. I've been so focused on Cedric and Harry that I haven't really been acting like your best friend," I admitted.

"Maybe you're right, but I think it's naïve of us to think that the three of us won't grow up, start dating and changing along the way. It's not fair of any of us to assume that things will always be like they were when we were eleven," George replied honestly.

"I just want to make up with him," I whispered, bowing my head to hide the surprise tears that were forming.

"I know," George said, standing up to pull me into an embrace.

We stayed like that for several more minutes before I heard George expel another yawn.

"You should go get some sleep," I said, breaking the silence and pulling back from our hug.

"You sure?" George asked looking concerned, but I knew he was also fighting off his will to sleep.

"Yea, I'm alright," I replied, forcing a smile.

George nodded and turned around to walk up towards his dormitory. He ascended the stairs and made his way up towards the top of the tower where the sixth-year dorm was located. It was only on the sixth or seventh step, which was immediately out of sight from the common room where he found Fred sitting with his head in his hands.

"You heard her; she feels guilty about the whole thing. Maybe now you should get over yourself and go apologise," George said quietly so Marnie wouldn't hear that Fred had been eavesdropping.

"I already knew I was an idiot," Fred replied, before standing and heading up towards their dormitory instead of down towards the common room.

George shook his head in frustration but found he was too tired to have this particular argument again.

Xx

"Lily let me be the secret keeper! Sirius is the obvious choice but the wards of our cottage are strong and have kept Joss safe this far," I was begging the red-haired woman in front of me.

I was seated in the now familiar house that I knew was Harry's childhood home. By the look of it, it was nighttime meaning Harry and I were probably tucked in upstairs. James and Lily were sitting in a loveseat opposite of my mother and Sirius. Remus and Peter were also standing in the doorway with concerned expressions. Well, Remus was obviously concerned, Peter looked more twitchy and scared.

"Harry's been chosen by He Who Must Not Be Named to die ever since he learned about that prophecy!" my mother sounded frantic.

"Lena, you're his godmother, you're the next logical choice after Sirius. And we would never risk putting Marnie in harms way," Lily replied seriously while the others nodded.

"We swore to protect him!" she cried and I knew she was talking about Harry.

This must just be days before James and Lily were murdered if they were talking about who was going to be the secret keeper. I knew enough about all of this and felt myself seethe in anger from inside my mother's memory while I waited for Peter to be chosen.

Why in Merlin's name was I watching this memory if I already knew Peter was a traitor? He was the reason two of these people would die, one would be tortured and one would be wrongfully convicted.

"Might I suggest Peter?" I heard Sirius say from beside me.

I screamed inside my mother's head but of course that did nothing to sway her from agreeing.

My anger must have woken me since I sat bolt upright in my bed with sweat dripping down my forehead.

Aster, who now typically slept on me like a cat, was flittering around my face with concern.

I petted their wings with the tip of my finger to show them I was alright before getting up for a glass of water. I could see the sun already peaking over the horizon to show it was early morning. Today as the day of the third task which unsettled me even more about the dream I had had. I wasn't naïve enough to think that these dreams didn't happen without a purpose based on the one's I had had in the past. Plus, I knew Harry was also having dreams about Voldemort and Wormtail which caused the knots in my stomach to tighten further.

I decidedly got into the shower and rinsed the sweat from my body before getting dressed and heading down to the common room. The girls were still sleeping so I left to avoid disturbing them. They would all wake up excited for today's events and I wanted to work up enough nerve to be happy before then. I propped open my copy of _Quidditch Throughout the Ages_ since it was always something I did whenever I was upset as a child. I would always open one of mum's magic books and let myself feel closer to her.

"Hare?" I heard my nickname and nearly dropped my book out of surprise.

I was already through the first section of the book so I knew I had been down in the common room for awhile before the rest of the house woke up.

"Fred?" I gaped, seeing him standing in front of me looking awkward.

He was rubbing his hand over the back of his head and had his gaze downcast towards the ground.

"Tell Cedric good luck for me won't you?" he asked, giving me a shy grin.

I stared at him with a million questions but nothing immediately came to mind on how to answer him. I had gone eight months without hearing the name he only used for me. I wanted to cry in relief and yell at him in frustration all at the same time. But I only continued to gape at him before he turned at the sounds of several footsteps approaching.

"Fred, wait up!" I heard Lee call out before he noticed Fred standing in front of me.

Lee and George stopped and looked over at us in confusion.

"I'm just waiting for you slowpoke," Fred responded to Lee before going over to join the two boys.

"Is everything alright?" George asked more skeptically.

"Yea, let's go I'm starving," Fred answered before leading the way out of the common room.

Lee and George both cast a look at me but I was still too startled to say anything.

"Come on Marnie, we should join them," Alicia said.

I hadn't noticed the girls enter but the three of them were now standing in front of me all ready for breakfast.

I only nodded and let them drag me away from my quiet corner and wild thoughts. Why was Fred talking to me now and over something so trivial? But was it really trivial? I mean, wasn't Cedric the reason we hadn't talked in so long?

I was so confused but now didn't seem like the right time to voice my questions since everyone else was buzzing in excitement over today's event.

"Isn't your dad coming to watch Harry?" Angelina asked once we were all seated for breakfast in the Great Hall.

"Yup, our mum is bringing him along with our brother Bill," George added with a smile.

He looked much better than he had the other day which made me happy. I also noticed Fred looked better rested but was avoiding eye contact with me.

My attention was diverted once the owls arrived to deliver the morning's post. I smiled when I saw a muddy looking letter and unraveled it from one of the school's owl's legs I had been sending to communicate with Sirius.

 _Keep watching out for him Marnie. You two were always meant to be siblings and I love you each like my own. Stay safe and tomorrow this will all be over._

 _Snuffles_

I smiled before folding the parchment into my pocket to keep it safe and as a comfort for tonight. The champions weren't due to compete until later tonight and I had to get through my exam between now and then.

"Erm- Marnie," Harry asked as he moved up the bench to sit beside me.

Ron was sitting on his other side but Hermione was no where in sight.

"I just wanted to apologise. I know it was stupid, but I was just worried about you and Snuffles. And well, I don't want to compete in the third task with you still mad at me," Harry said honestly.

I looked at him and smiled.

"Don't sound so morbid. Siblings fight right? And I guess I'm overly protective of you when you don't want me to be too right?" I asked, causing Harry to nod more seriously.

I hugged him and felt as he relaxed in my embrace.

"Potter, you're to go into the chamber off the Great Hall once you're done eating your breakfast," McGonagall announced as she walked towards us.

"But, the task isn't until tonight," Harry said a little frantically.

"Your family is here, it's just for you to greet them," McGonagall explained before walking past us towards the staff table.

I smiled. "Dad must be here then!"

"I can't believe he actually came," Harry said quietly.

"Of course he came! You're like a son to him. He's been worried sick about you all year but I also think he's quite proud, especially since you're tied for first place!" I said more enthusiastically to show my support.

"Are you going to come say hi?" Harry asked.

I shook my head. "I have my exam soon, but I'll see him later on."

Before getting up I hugged him one last time and then joined my friends on our way to our Potions exam. I looked back to see Ron having a last word with Harry before Harry headed towards the chamber door at the other end of the room. I looked around but couldn't see Cedric so figured he must already be greeting his father.

"There you are!" I turned around to see that Cedric was actually blocking my path from exiting the Great Hall instead.

My friends all smirked before continuing on down the hall. I even saw Fred give me a small smile before walking out of sight.

"Aren't you going to go see your father?" I asked, causing Cedric to shake his head and smile.

"I wanted to see my beautiful girlfriend before she disappears off to the dungeons," he replied which caused me to blush.

"I guess I should say good luck, and that part of me definitely wants you to come in first place," I admitted with a smirk.

"I'll take what I can get," he replied before bringing me into an embrace.

I could smell his usual scent which always reminded me of being outdoors. His warm embrace enveloped me and like always it was almost like it was only the two of us instead of being in a crowded room full of excited students.

"I've got a surprise for you," he whispered in my ear before pulling back.

"What is it?" I asked eagerly.

"That's a secret. I'll tell you after the event tonight," he replied cheekily.

"That's not fair," I whined.

This caused him to laugh and kiss the tip of my nose.

"It'll be worth the wait. I do have to go see my father now, but I want to see you one last time before tonight. Make sure you come see me before dinner so I can collect my good luck kiss," he said with a wide grin.

"Any excuse for a kiss?" I asked, shaking my head.

He smirked again, kissed my cheek and then walked off to go join Harry and greet his father. I watched as he disappeared through the door before turning around and jogging off towards the dungeons to avoid losing any points for Gryffindor from Snape.

"Dad!" I yelled out once I saw him sitting beside Harry in the Great Hall for lunch.

The exam had taken the entire morning so I was excited to be done another year of Potions with Snape. I figured I did alright enough, probably even better than last year. I had recently decided that I might want to start working at St. Mungo's when I finished school to work on healing research, but I hadn't told anybody about it yet.

"Marnie how are you darling?" my father asked as I ran up to him and folded myself into his embrace.

It felt good to see him, especially since Harry and I had stayed at the school for Christmas.

"Harry showed me around the school with Mrs. Weasley and Bill this morning. It's really something, even better than you and your mother described," he replied a little awestruck.

"Wait until you try the food!" I exclaimed, taking a seat beside him with Harry seated on his other side.

The food soon appeared and I watched as my dad looked around in amazement. I wondered how it must feel to know that this is where his brother had gone while he instead was educated in a muggle school.

"We saw Amos and Cedric on our tour," my dad said casually.

I tried to gauge his tone but couldn't tell his reaction.

"Yes, well Amos should know better than to blame Harry for anything written in the paper!" Mrs. Weasley added from the other side of the table.

I just laughed, knowing all too well how Mr. Diggory typically acted when it came to Cedric. And I also knew Cedric wasn't mentioned nearly as often as Harry in the paper. But my personal opinion was that it was the safer option than being picked apart by that awful reporter.

It was almost special to see my father actually at Hogwarts and to be surrounded my most of my family and friends. When I noticed it was almost time for dinner, I looked around the Great Hall to try and find Cedric but couldn't see him. I felt bad for not being able to give him that good luck kiss, but then again he was the one who said he would be in the Great Hall. I'm sure his father had him held up somewhere so I would just have to collect later, when he told me his surprise.

Dinner was served with more courses than usual but I noticed Harry hardly touched his plate. I could tell by my father's worried expression that he noticed as well. Once the dishes disappeared Dumbledore announced for the victor's to follow him out to the grounds and that the rest of us would be assembled five minutes later. I hugged Harry one last time before he went to where Professor Moody was waiting for him. I managed to catch Cedric's gaze as he followed Harry. He smiled and winked at me, causing me to blush furiously when I noticed both Mrs. Weasley and my father had also noticed.

I also hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Fred in all of the commotion but felt this wasn't the right time. Our group was all headed out for the stands.

Ludo Bagman took his usual post as announcer and introduced all of the champions again. My friends and I shouted excitedly for both Cedric and Harry as they were announced for being in first place. I was standing in between Angelina and Alicia with Katie beside us as well. My dad was off to the side with Mrs. Weasley and Bill while the boys were somewhere behind us not too far off. I waved enthusiastically at both Cedric and Harry and smiled at how proud I was for both of them. Despite my fears about Harry being in this tournament and the foreboding dream I had had; I couldn't cast off my excitement that I shared with all my friends.

"Alright on my count- three, two, one!" a shot fired and Harry and Cedric were allowed into the maze.

The maze entrances closed up behind them and I watched as Krum and then Fleur followed shortly after.

"And now we wait," Angelina said as we took our seats.

"Maybe it was a good thing I was unconscious for the last task if it meant I didn't have to wait like this," I replied.

"Yea, except that none of us knew where you were and were worried Flint had stuffed you in another closet or something," Katie replied more severely.

I nodded, understanding that I had made my friends worry quite a few times over the last six years.

It was almost fifteen minutes later when we all saw a red flash shoot up into the air. Fleur was brought out several minutes later by some professors. I watched Madam Pomfrey attend to her wounds but shook my head.

"Please tell me I would have been a better female candidate than her," I remarked a bit offensively.

Fleur didn't seem to have done very well in any of the tasks and it made me annoyed that she would do so poorly after being the only female champion.

My friends nodded but our attention soon jolted back to the maze at the sounds of someone screaming. I shot out of my seat but stood rooted in place. There was nothing I could do, but I knew those were Cedric's screams.

Angelina and Alicia both grabbed onto my hands and squeezed before gently pulling me down into my seat. None of us said anything as we continued staring at the hedge in front of us and prayed for the whole thing to be over. I took back my previous wish, it was much better coming up soaking wet from the Black Lake if it meant I didn't have to sit here and worry.

Another red spark shot up into the air minutes later and again the professors went in and came back with Viktor Krum looking stunned.

"That means Hogwarts wins!" Lee shouted, causing the crowd to become more rowdy and excited.

But Harry and Cedric didn't come back as the minutes rolled on.

"Merlin, what is taking them so long!" I said, feeling uneasy that so much time had passed.

Suddenly, there was a snap in the air and I looked up to see someone laying on the ground.

"Harry? Harry's back!" I heard excited murmurs around but no one was first to shout out in celebration.

Something was off. I stood up to see if it was in fact Harry but instead felt a pair of hands on my shoulders as someone hopped over my seat and came to stand in front of me.

"Fred?" I asked, surprised for the second time that day to see him so close.

"What's going on Fred?" I asked, feeling the knots in my stomach tighten worse than before.

"You don't need to see this," Fred whispered, pulling my head into his chest.

"Fred, knock it off, what's happening!" I shouted, trying to pry myself from his embrace.

That's when I heard the whispers.

"He's dead. Cedric Diggory's dead."

"Fred, let me go! They're lying. What's going on Fred! LET ME GO!" I screamed as more people around me started to whisper and sounded more frantic.

But then I heard someone crying in pain. It was the sound of a man who kept calling out to his son. My tears were pouring down my face but Fred kept me tight to his chest.

"Fred, take her out of here!" I heard someone call out through my screams.

I was pretty sure it was my father. It was difficult to make anything else out and even more difficult to move as Fred kept me tight to him. He turned me around so he had his body blocking my view of the maze and wouldn't let me turn. I hit myself against him but someone else was at my other side, keeping me from turning my body. I figured it was most likely George but I was too disoriented. I screamed and sobbed all the way back to the castle until I was gently put down onto one of the couches in the Gryffindor common room. Fred and George sat on either side of me while I cried. Angelina and the others came to sit around us while we waited for someone to come and tell us what was going on. Most of the Gryffindors returned shortly after, probably having been ordered by Professor Dumbledore.

"Marnie, dear," I looked up to see Mrs. Weasley standing in front of me after an indefinite amount of time.

"Where's Harry? Where's my dad? Where's Cedric?!" I shouted, feeling the panic rise up even more.

George moved so that Mrs. Weasley could sit beside of me but Fred kept his hand in mine.

"Your father is with Harry. I don't know all the details but Harry was attacked tonight. He's safe now and is being protected by the staff," Mrs. Weasley explained with deep concern etched across her face.

"Where's Cedric?" I asked more timidly, knowing she had left something important out.

Mrs. Weasley looked at me worriedly.

"Please mum, just tell her," Fred implored his mother quietly.

He tightened his grip on my hand, already knowing the news him mother was about to confess.

"He's dead Marnie," Mrs. Weasley admitted sadly with her own tears falling down her face.

"He can't be dead! He didn't tell me his secret! He wasn't supposed to die! IT'S NOT TRUE!" I sobbed and fell into Mrs. Weasley's lap.

I had been too young when my mother was tortured to remember how miserable I must have felt. But admittedly, I was too cowardly to wish she had died. It was for this very reason that I never wished my mother had died, so that I wouldn't be so utterly heart broken.

XX

 **So, I knew this was coming from the very beginning. It was the entire reason I chose to include Cedric in my story and a big reason why I even started writing it. I am both excited to have finally written it and heartbroken for Marnie. Thanks as always for everyone who reads this story, it's become a huge project that still gives me a lot of joy to write.**


	58. Reformation of the Order of the Phoenix

"Marnie, it's time for supper," I heard Mrs. Weasley calling up the stairs.

She already called everyone else several minutes ago, but I still hadn't left my bedroom. Well, it wasn't really my bedroom but the one I shared with Ginny and Hermione.

I only got the chance to return to our cottage for about a week after the end of term before dad moved us here to number 12 Grimmauld Place in London.

I moved off the window sill where I was sitting and crossed the room to open the door. Before I got there I heard someone knocking from the other side. I opened it to see Sirius standing there waiting for me. Sirius was the only one I really talked to over the past month, aside from Fred and George.

"Can I have a word?" Sirius asked, looking at me with concern.

He never hid how worried he was over me since Cedric died. But I also knew he was disappointed with me that I wasn't keeping in touch with Harry.

"You know, if you don't start eating regularly you'll be thinner than I am," Sirius said as I allowed him to enter the room.

I sat on the bed and he took a seat beside me.

I didn't respond to his comment but had noticed Sirius was gaining weight by eating Mrs. Weasley's three square meals a day.

"Did dad ask you to check on me again?" I asked.

I hadn't been able to really confide in my dad about my feelings over losing Cedric. It seemed silly, but I had spent my entire life protecting my father from my feelings over my mother and now I couldn't talk to him about losing someone else that I loved.

"Joss always asks me to check on you, but that's not really why I'm here," Sirius replied honestly.

"Is it about Harry?" I asked, hoping for another detail on his well-being despite any reprimanding I might get from Sirius.

Sirius and the others thought it was odd and probably a little cruel that I wasn't sending letters to Harry to check on him. By now I knew what happened through Hermione and Ron. I knew Harry witnessed everything and wasn't able to prevent Cedric from being murdered by Voldemort. Knowing Harry, I also figured he was probably feeling guilty and conflicted about the whole incident. I didn't blame him at all, but I felt like my whole involvement as Cedric's girlfriend would only add more stress and guilt to the situation. I knew Ron and Hermione were also giving him updates about me in their letters, so I felt that was enough for now.

"Dumbledore still thinks it's best for him to stay with Lily's wretched sister, but we are finally talking about bringing him here soon," Sirius stated with a small smile.

I knew it was driving Sirius mad that he wasn't able to see Harry and help him through this. Dumbledore had let Sirius into the castle on the day Cedric died to see Harry to ensure he was alright with my father there as well. Dad and Sirius had stayed with Harry long into the evening. But I never saw Sirius until arriving at Grimmauld Place. Instead Mrs. Weasley had stayed with me before tucking me into bed when I finally passed out from crying.

Dumbledore held a sort of memorial at the end of the school year for Cedric and ended up telling everyone that Voldemort was back. I knew a lot of students didn't believe him and now Cornelius Fudge was doing everything in his power as Minster for Magic to make Harry and Dumbledore out as frauds.

I also remember noticing Flint and Malfoy refusing to stand in respect for Cedric, probably because their parents helped bring Voldemort back.

I nodded at Sirius and tried for a small smile that I knew didn't look completely genuine.

"You know he's not angry with you, right?" Sirius asked, knowing why I was stubbornly avoiding writing to Harry.

"Maybe not, but I'm an awful reminder," I replied with my fists balled up in my lap.

"That's not true, you're his sister. You two need to help each other through this," he continued sincerely.

Sirius and I had this conversation every few days and my response never changed. But before I could give him my usual response there was another knock at the door. I looked up to see Fred standing in the doorway.

"Mum sent me to get you two," he explained, looking at me with his own expression of concern.

It was safe to say that Fred and I had reconciled our differences. We hadn't actually discussed our original fight, but I figured it was irrelevant at this point. Instead, him and George hardly ever left my side or let me grieve alone. It seemed whenever I would find myself alone, I usually broke down. But Fred always came to find me, pulling me into his arms until I finished crying. I tried to hide my actual breakdowns from everyone since I knew it only upset them further. Mrs. Weasley would usually breakdown herself and fuss over me. My dad and Remus always looked overwhelmed, not really knowing how to help their grieving daughter over the sudden death of her first love. Sirius reacted similarly to Fred and would often come and check on me throughout the day. If he found me crying though I started noticing he would go and find one of the twins. It seemed no one wanted to see me cry. Hermione and Ginny were more comforting, especially whenever I woke up crying in the middle of the night. I often dreamt about Cedric so Ginny would crawl into bed with me whenever this happened. She would lull me to sleep by running her hand through my hair. I knew that she and the twins were waiting for me to confide in them, but I wasn't ready yet. I still hadn't really talked about Cedric to anyone over the last month since I didn't really know what to say. From what I heard, Cedric was killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and there was nothing anyone could have done. Because of one wrong move I would never see him again.

"Alright, we're coming," I replied before getting up to follow Fred out of the room.

None of us said anything on our way to the kitchen on the main level.

"Wotcher Marnie," I heard as I entered the room.

I looked over to see Nymphadora Tonks, a member of the Order of the Phoenix. After the night Cedric died Dumbledore immediately set out to reinstate the Order. Nymphadora, or Tonks as she liked to go by, was a frequent guest at Grimmauld Place when she wasn't doing any errands for Dumbledore. I knew the Order was rotating shifts watching Harry, but other than that there wasn't much more that I knew. Technically I was of age which only fueled my argument to become an official member, but my dad argued that I still had another year left at school. When we first arrived to Grimmauld Place I actually argued with my dad on the matter. It was probably the first time I had ever yelled at him like that but I just felt so useless not doing anything in the wake of Cedric's death. Only doing house chores didn't seem overly productive to the cause. Fred and George also felt similarly to me with wanting to join the Order.

I took my seat in between the twins who each put a helping of food onto my plate. After watching me eat for seven years, my sudden lack of interest in food made them both anxious.

Dinner was as boisterous as always with so many people seated around the kitchen. All of the Weasleys were here, except for Percy. I still flinched at the thought of Percy calling Harry a liar and subsequently disassociating himself from his family. He continued to believe the garbage Fudge was spouting about the false accusations of Voldemort returning, so that meant in Percy's eyes that we were all traitors against the Ministry.

My dad, Remus, Sirius, Hermione and Tonks were also here. Often more members were in and out including Mundungus Fletcher, Professor Snape, the real Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Dodge, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, Hestia Jones and Professor McGonagall.

"Is that the post?" Mr. Weasley asked hearing something tapping on the back window.

I looked over to see that there was an owl holding a letter in its beak. It wasn't very uncommon to see owls at any hour of the day since we were a secret headquarters for an underground organisation to take down the darkest wizard of all time.

I watched as Mr. Weasley read the letter before turning pale white. He passed the letter to Remus who was sitting beside him before standing and quickly leaving the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley followed him out and I could hear him announce he was going back into work.

I watched as the letter was passed around between the adults who grew anxious and frustrated. Sirius reacted the worst who immediately ran out into the hall before being chased and brought back by Remus. I analysed everyone's reaction and figured something was wrong with Harry. I felt my stomach tighten and clenched my hands into fists. I knew Harry was obviously in danger now that he had escaped from Voldemort yet again. There was no way I could bear losing my brother as well.

"What the hell is going on?" Fred asked, noticing my reaction.

"Everyone, upstairs!" Mrs. Weasley barked in response.

She quickly rounded all of us kids up the stairs before closing the door so the Order could formally convene downstairs.

We all huddled up on the first landing but eventually migrated into Ron's room after not hearing anything for over an hour.

"It must be Harry right?" Ron asked looking more anxious than he was trying to let on.

"Of course it's Harry. Something must have happened," Hermione snapped under her own apprehension.

"Well let's not be hasty in our assumptions," George said, eyeing the two of them before looking over at me.

"They're right, it has to be Harry. Sirius near about went running outside even though he knows he can't go anywhere," I replied evenly.

I still felt the knots in my stomach tightening and my anger resurge that dad hadn't let me join the Order.

Soon, there was a knock at the door that interrupted our worrying. Hermione stood up to answer it to find my father standing on the other side. It was always either Mrs. Weasley or my father who relayed the revised versions of Order meetings for us kids.

"We figured we might as well tell you now, especially since Harry will probably write to some of you and the Daily Prophet is likely to have a field day with this…" my father paused looking even more worried than he usually did lately.

"So something did happen to Harry," Ginny said nervously.

"He used a Patronus charm and now the Ministry is going after him for underaged magic," my father explained.

"The Patronus charm? But, that's used to ward off dementors," Hermione said fearfully.

"Yes, we are suspecting exactly that. That He Who Must Not Be Named has already swayed the dementors and sent them after Harry. So, we are arranging it now for Harry to arrive here as soon as possible. For the time being he has been ordered to stay inside his aunt's house until we can extract him," my father frowned.

Sirius confided in me shortly after arriving at Grimmauld Place that he and my father argued fiercely against Dumbledore to have Harry only stay with us this summer. After seeing Harry after the tournament ended, my father wanted to keep the boy he helped raise under his care instead.

"As soon as possible? Does that mean Harry's arriving tonight?" Ron asked hopefully.

"That's right. Most of the Order already set out to collect him. We're having another meeting once he arrives," my father continued.

My father gave me a meaningful look but I stayed silent. I felt relieved that Harry was finally joining us after a month of living in this stuffy old house. But I was also concerned with how Harry would react when seeing me.

Dad soon stood up and left the room when we had no further questions. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were buzzing over the news of Harry's arrival.

I clenched my fists before standing up and leaving the room soon after my father left. Out in the hall, I ran up the second staircase and disappeared into the room I shared with the other two girls. I wanted to me left alone but didn't fight them when the twins followed a minute later. Initially I used to try and convince them to leave me alone but they were very clear that that wasn't an option. I was laying face down on my bed and sobbing into my pillow. Mostly I had been avoiding writing to Harry because I didn't want to remind him about the tournament, but part of me knew that Harry was also a reminder for me that Cedric was dead. It wasn't a fair assessment and I still didn't blame Harry for what happened. I was truly grateful he was still alive after facing off against Voldemort again. But I was still afraid of facing that Cedric was really gone too. Being swept off to Grimmauld Place and being away from Hogwarts allowed me to ignore the fact that Cedric died. It was easy to believe he was off on another summer adventure with his father and that I would see him again in September. Of course I didn't feed into these fantasies but it also spared me from facing my deep aching outright.

Fred ran his fingers gently through my hair, much like Ginny did, until my crying finally subsided.

The twins remained quiet until I eventually moved myself into a sitting position. George moved to put his arm over my shoulder and allowed me to lean onto him. We stayed sitting like that while Fred sat on my other side before we heard footsteps climbing the stairs. There was a small knock at the door before the handle turned without any answer from me or the twins. Hermione poked her head in and gave me a sympathetic look. I'm sure my eyes were all red and puffy. Hermione then pushed the door open and was followed in by Harry. Ron stood nervously behind Harry but stayed just outside the door.

"Can I have a minute?" Harry asked, looking at me with an unreadable expression.

Fred and George both looked to me and waited until I nodded. They then followed Hermione out of the room but I never heard any sets of footsteps descend the stairs. They must all be milling around outside the door. Harry remained standing and looked at me for a moment before letting his expression fall. A deep frown unfolded across his face. Seeing him like this allowed me to confront my fears. Without thinking I stood up and crossed the room before pulling him into an embrace.

I felt as Harry's shoulders fell and he began to silently cry into my shoulder. I could only tell he was crying since I could feel the tears falling onto my arm. After several moments Harry pulled away and moved to sit on the bed. I followed and sat down beside him.

"Do you blame me?" Harry asked, getting straight to the point.

"Not at all," I replied honestly.

"So why didn't you respond to my letter?" he asked.

I frowned since I could hear the apprehension in his voice.

"I didn't want to be a reminder. It sounds silly to hear it now, but I didn't want to add to your burden," I replied.

"I'm sorry," I said after a long pause between us.

Harry nodded and rested his head on my shoulder. I could feel his exhaustion and moved my arm so that it was around him.

"He told me something to tell you," Harry said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked turning my head towards him as he moved his head away from me to meet my eyes.

"When Voldemort's wand met mine, something bizarre happened. I saw my parents…" he paused with a complex expression.

"You saw Lily and James?" I asked, feeling an odd combination of fear and awe.

"Yea, they're actually what helped me get away. But I also saw Cedric… It was like their ghosts were there standing in front of me," he continued looking perplexed.

I nodded, not trusting the roiling in my stomach to allow me to speak.

"He said to tell you a secret," Harry started.

I could already feel the tears running down my face but I nodded for Harry to continue.

"Erm—" Harry started off nervously. "He apologised actually, for not being able to spend the summer with you like he promised."

I stared at Harry and continued to feel more tears falling down my face. I remembered Cedric promising at the Quidditch World Cup that he would ask his father to let him stay home this summer to be able to spend more time with me. That must have been what Cedric wanted to tell me, that his father agreed to let him stay home. I nodded, showing Harry I knew what he meant.

Harry sighed. "He also told me to tell you that he loves you…"

I only nodded again because I knew I was close to sobbing. Hearing Cedric's last words from Harry seemed to show how permanent Cedric's death was. I knew his secret now and that his last thought entering the afterlife was that he loved me. Harry hugged me again and we stayed like that for a while before I heard the door open again. I realised Fred and George must have grown anxious since I was crying louder now. Harry finally let go and allowed for Fred to hold me for a while in his place. Hermione eventually led Harry and Ron away, probably to go fill Harry in some more about the Order.

Seeing Harry was actually a relief, but that only invited more of the exhaustion I was feeling. I didn't remember falling asleep but woke up in the middle of the night hearing the rhythmic breathing of both Ginny and Hermione. Despite having cried for most of the evening, it also felt nice that this was the first night not to wake up from a nightmare. Eventually, I let myself fall back into a shallow sleep until the sun peaked through our window the next morning.


	59. Grieving

I woke up a little later than usual the next morning but still before Ginny and Hermione. I quickly got dressed and went downstairs. Unsurprisingly I found Mrs. Weasley already bustling around in the kitchen.

"Good morning dear, I'll whip you up some breakfast," she greeted me before hurrying to put some eggs on the frying pan.

"Is my dad already up?" I asked, surprised I hadn't seen him since today was the day of Harry's trial.

"Oh, he already left with Arthur this morning to bring Harry to the court room," Mrs. Weasley explained.

"Wait, so they already left? But Harry's trial isn't for hours!" I replied, feeling angry that I didn't even get the opportunity to plea my argument to my father to come along.

Things were off between me and my father but I figured that I wouldn't have such a hard time at least accompanying them to the Ministry today.

I clenched my fists in anger, realising that leaving me behind was probably at least part of the reason they left so early this morning. I watched Mrs. Weasley dishing my eggs but instead I stood up and left the kitchen abruptly. I made it to the front door before Mrs. Weasley looked out into the hallway after me.

"Marnie! You can't go outside dear," she called out after me.

"I'm of age!" I shouted back without turning around and slammed the door behind me.

I heard the portrait of Sirius' mother screaming behind me and felt marginally bad that Mrs. Weasley would have to quiet her and that the rest of the house would be woken up. I also knew everyone would be worried about me walking alone in London, but I could legally use magic outside of school and I was tired of being cooped up in that stuffy house. No wonder Sirius was so moody lately, that house was depressing enough without the horrible memories tied to it.

I walked into the heart of the city and was again overwhelmed by the amount of people that were roaming about. I didn't really have a good idea of where I was going but didn't have any plan on returning to Grimmauld Place anytime soon. I couldn't stand to clean that wretched house and wait to see if Harry was expelled or not.

I ended up on a street that I recognized and was surprised to find myself in front of St. Mungo's. I decided to head inside after telling the mannequin I was here to see my mother. The door opened and I walked through the familiar corridors to my mother's ward. I knocked lightly on her door which caused her to look up and smile at me. I walked in as she watched me from her bed. She was tucked in under the blanket but was also sitting up and drawing onto a piece of paper.

"Hi mum," I greeted her.

My mother just smiled back at me before continuing to draw.

I sat down in a chair that was positioned near the foot of her bed. I looked around the room and realised that dad probably hadn't come to visit since the beginning of the summer.

"You're almost lucky mum…" I started to whisper.

I continued to look around the room while my mother continued to fixate on the paper in front of her.

"You lost your best friends but had your memory erased so you don't feel the pain. I lost Cedric mum, and I don't know how to get passed that. Harry couldn't save him and now he might even get expelled. Dad won't let me join the Order and part of me just wants to drop out of school so I can stay with Sirius and work for the Order instead of going back to school and facing the fact that Cedric is really gone," I continued to whisper as tears started falling down my face.

I hadn't told anyone about not wanting to go back to school but I also knew the twins weren't too keen on going back either. I was the only one they told about Harry giving them the money for their shop and now they were all set to open as soon as they perfected a few more products. I didn't have any plans on joining them at the shop and really hadn't contributed lately to their products, but I knew if they left I wouldn't have any reason for staying at Hogwarts.

"Hogwarts was all I ever wanted for my entire childhood, and now it's just a bad reminder. I fought so hard for a place there but now Cedric is gone and Harry might not be allowed back. Plus… _he's_ back mum! How can I just do nothing?" I continued whispering.

I looked up to see my mother was holding up her picture. I couldn't make out if it was supposed to be anything in particular. She looked confused that I was crying but continued to look excited about her new artwork. I smiled back at her through my tears since I didn't want her to react to my pain. She hardly spoke anymore and didn't have much of a capacity for processing complex emotions.

I heard a knock at the door and looked up to see Neville looking in at me.

"Hey Marnie, I haven't seen you in a while," he said quietly from the door.

"Yea, I haven't been to see my mum yet," I replied, quickly brushing the tears from my face.

"Do you want to go and grab some tea?" he offered.

I looked over to my mum before nodding at him. I stood up and kissed my mother on the forehead before following Neville out. I promised my mother that I would return to say goodbye but she only smiled and continued with her drawing.

Neville and I walked down to the cafeteria in silence.

"Is your gran in with your parents?" I asked after we ordered our drinks and sat down.

"Yea, I told her I was coming to check on your mother," he replied.

I nodded and took a sip. It was still too hot to drink so it burnt my tongue.

"How are you?" he asked kindly.

I shook my head and took another sip despite it still being too hot.

"I'm sorry, you know, about what happened," Neville said quietly.

I looked up at him and nodded.

"Gran and I believe Harry by the way," he continued.

"Yea, Fudge is trying his damndest to paint Harry as the fool," I replied sardonically.

"It's terrible, we should all be getting ready to fight instead of denying it even happened," Neville said a little angrily.

I nodded, sharing his sentiments.

"Did Fred finally wisen up and start talking to you again?" Neville asked, changing the subject again.

"Yea, we're back to being friends," I replied with a small smile.

"You know, I don't think he was ever really mad at you," Neville continued.

"What do you mean?" I asked, unsure of why else Fred would have ignored me for so long.

"Erm—well, I think he was jealous…" Neville explained, seeming embarrassed.

"Jealous?" I asked, feeling skeptical.

"Well, yea… doesn't Fred—"

"Neville!" we both turned at the sound of Augusta Longbottom calling out to her grandson.

"Hey gran, I just ran into Marnie," Neville said as his gran walked over to join us.

"Hello Marnie, it's so good to see you," she said before coming over and bringing me into an embrace.

I was taken aback since Augusta was never one who showed too much affection.

"It's good to see you too," I said into her shoulder.

"It's a complete shame about that Diggory boy. Neville told me you two were close," Augusta said before she pulled back.

I nodded, not trusting myself not to cry again.

"I just came to find you and tell you that the ward is closing for the night soon, so we better get going Neville," Augusta continued.

"Is it that late already?" I asked, checking my watch in surprise.

"Did Joss come with you?" Augusta asked.

"No, I came by myself today. I better go up and say goodbye, I told my mother I would," I said before moving to walk out of the cafeteria.

"I'll see you at school Marnie!" Neville called out.

I waved back at him before leaving and went to find my mother.

Ten minutes later I was standing outside of St. Mungo's. The sun was setting and I knew I would be in a whole lot of trouble when I finally found my way back to headquarters.

I travelled back in the direction I was most confident I had wandered from. I came across a market on my way back and felt that I could at least pick up some groceries for Mrs. Weasley. By the time I did finally find my way back the sun was past set. I paused for a moment in front of the door but didn't have time to open it myself before it was thrown open and I was pulled inside.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Fred whispered furiously.

"Is that Marnie?" I heard my father asking from the kitchen.

Fred dragged me past Sirius' mother's portrait and into the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley took the groceries from my hands and brought them to the counter.

"Where have you been all day? Molly said you just took off this morning," my father said worriedly.

I could also tell he was trying not to show how angry he actually was.

"I just went to see mum," I replied before sitting down at the table since there wasn't much standing room in the kitchen.

"We could have arranged something Marnie," Remus said, looking disappointed by my behaviour.

"Well, I was planning on joining dad to go to the Ministry today but my plans changed," I replied, looking pointedly over at my father.

"Well, we did have to leave quite early this morning," my father started before I cut him off.

"Oh and seeing as I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since Cedric died I don't think that is much of an issue."

"Marnie, we didn't want too add any more attention to Harry than there already is. As it was, I stayed with Arthur all throughout the trial anyway," my father tried to reason.

"More attention?! Fudge gives comments to the Prophet every other day trying to make Harry out to be a fraud," I retorted more angrily.

My father sighed. "I wanted to make sure nothing jeopardised you or Harry going back to school in September. And now you are both allowed to attend."

My father offered a small smile but I didn't allow myself to outwardly express my relief that Harry didn't get expelled.

"Well, maybe I don't want to go back to school!" I shot back furiously.

"Marnie, this is your final year, of course you're going back. You're supposed to graduate this year," my father reasoned.

"No, I'm supposed to be dead!" I shouted before my tears resurfaced and I stormed out of the kitchen.

I heard Mrs. Weasley gasp and could see the looks of horror on my father's and Remus' faces. The twins also looked taken aback. The only one who looked like they somewhat understood what I was saying was Sirius who spent the entire time leaning against the wall at the back of the kitchen.

I ran up the stairs and ignored the door opening at Harry's bedroom. I assumed Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny heard the commotion but I continued up to my room where I fell into my bed.

Unsurprisingly the door opened a minute later and two sets of feet entered my room. My head was buried into my pillow and I didn't look up. I felt guilty for going off on everyone like that, but after seeing my mother I couldn't help but feel like maybe she got off more easily.

"Hare? What did you mean downstairs?" Fred asked sounding anxious.

I pulled myself up to face him and George. They both looked as concerned as I they had been on the day Cedric died.

"I wasn't brave enough to get chosen! If I was then I would be dead instead of him!" I shouted, feeling even more tears pour down my face.

Fred pulled me tight to his body as if trying to hold me together.

"Hare, I know it's selfish, but everyone here is glad it wasn't you. And as for Cedric, I don't think he would want to switch places with you either. He loved you so much and I think he's happy this means you get to keep living," Fred replied.

This caused me to sob louder in to his chest. I grabbed onto his shirt with my fists and drenched the fabric with my tears.

I didn't go down to dinner that night and the rest of the holiday became tense between me and my father. I didn't think he was still angry with me but he also couldn't think of anything to say to the fact that I admitted I wished I had died.

On the last night of summer, Mrs. Weasley put together a sort of celebration for Hermione and Ron becoming prefects.

"Marnie, did you get a chance to look at my new broom?" Ron came up to me with a big grin.

He was obviously feeling proud about his new badge and broom despite the grief Fred and George were already giving him about it.

"Yea! Hopefully, you'll get on the quidditch team then," I replied, trying to show some enthusiasm.

I watched as his cheeks turned red and he started stuttering about tryouts.

I smiled at him before walking over to the table to gather some food. My appetite was slowly coming back but I still didn't eat very much. I caught Fred's eye from across the room and saw his encouraging smile. Him and George were talking with Mundungus Fletcher, probably about their less reputable trading for their joke products.

"Hey Marnie," I looked over to see Harry approaching me.

He was also acting unusual lately, almost similarly to Sirius. The last week or so was pretty tense around here since I became banned from leaving the house and everyone else found out I wished I had died in Cedric's place. Harry had found me the next morning and was furious but we had since made up.

"Ready to go back to school?" I asked but Harry only shrugged.

"Jealous you didn't get the prefect position?" I asked, trying to gauge his response.

"Of course not, Ron deserves it," Harry replied but I was still skeptical.

"Are you ready to go back?" he asked, giving me a pointed look.

"I promised you didn't I?" I asked, referring to our previous agreement.

I promised Harry after my most recent breakdown that I would go back and graduate. Harry reasoned that I would benefit learning any new spell I could use against Voldemort. This was enough for me to at least get on the train tomorrow.

Soon after I noticed Harry excuse himself to leave the party which was the only justification I needed to follow him. Fred and George were still figuring out their products which left Remus and dad looking at me with worried expressions.

As I climbed the stairs I could hear someone crying on the first landing and soon heard Harry speaking. I ran to catch up and found him standing in the parlour with Mrs. Weasley sobbing at the other end. The most startling thing in the room though was Harry's dead body.

"Riddikulus!" Mrs. Weasley shouted through her sobs but the boggart only transformed into another dead body.

Suddenly I was staring at a replica of me laying on the ground with blood running from my mouth. My breath hitched suddenly. I guess from being confronted like this with my own mortality since it had become such a topic of contention recently.

 _"Maybe I didn't want to die if it meant I looked like that,"_ I thought to myself as my stomach turned.

"What's going on up here?" Remus entered the parlour behind me and moved to rid of the boggart.

Sirius and Mad-Eye both followed and tried to console Mrs. Weasley who was still crying. Harry stood rooted in place but I took everyone's diverted attention on Mrs. Weasley to leave quietly. I walked up the stairs to my room and closed the door behind me. Once I crawled into bed, I allowed myself to feel scared about dying for the first time in the last three months. I continued to lay on my bed and closed my eyes when Ginny and Hermione finally entered the room. It was long after they both fell asleep that I finally dozed off, dreaming about my bloodied corpse in the parlour until Mrs. Black's prejudicial screams woke me the next morning.


	60. The Seventh Defense Teacher

Setting foot back at Hogwarts was seeming worse than I imagined. Not only was Cedric's absence truly apparent but I was foolish enough to believe that everyone wouldn't point and whisper behind my back. Seeing their pity was beyond frustrating but that was somehow better than those who didn't believe Harry. Some students even had the nerve to approach me and ask if I even believed that Cedric was murdered by Voldemort.

The Welcoming Feast set the tone since the Sorting Hat's song was rather foreboding than it had been in previous years. What was worse was that the toad-like witch who apparently spoke against Harry during his trial was now our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Her introduction speech about maintaining the status quo was a threat all in itself.

"You know this means the Ministry is trying to interfere at Hogwarts," I said as I sat with my friends after the feast up in the common room.

"It's not really that surprising is it?" George asked with a shrug.

George was going over some pieces of parchment with Fred and Lee. Since the Weasley's spent their entire summer at Grimmauld place, they needed to catch Lee up with all their new product plans.

"I mean, it'll make it safer won't it?" Alicia asked somewhat naively.

I looked at her with an appraising gaze. It seemed Alicia's family wasn't overly willing to believe Harry and Dumbledore's account of events from the Triwizard Tournament. She met my gaze but bowed her head and remained silent. The topic of Cedric still hadn't come up but this was only day one of our entire school year.

"What about Hermione and Ron becoming the Gryffindor prefects?" Katie asked, looking suspiciously at the parchment that Fred was now tucking away.

"I guess I should be quivering in my bones with Ronnie being chosen as prefect," Fred replied sarcastically.

"Be nice," I retorted, trying to get them to behave against their younger brother.

Fred met my gaze but didn't say anything. I knew neither him nor George would come around to the idea of those two being prefects, especially when I knew the twins had plans to test their joke products this year.

"I guess we better head to bed," Angelina said after yawning and stretching her arms out.

I nodded and followed the rest of the girls up to our dorm. Our trunks were unsurprisingly already up in our rooms.

"Where's Aster, Marnie?" Alicia asked in a calmer voice now than when she was asking about the new professor from the Ministry downstairs.

"They're gone," I replied in a solemn voice.

I heard Alicia gasp and could feel the uneasy gazes from the others staring at my back.

I sighed before turning around.

It had been too hectic of a night for any of them to have realised that Aster disappeared the night Cedric died. I remembered opening my eyes the next morning, despite not knowing if I had actually slept or not. I looked around to see where I was since I hadn't had any memory of making it up to my room the night before. My answer became apparent when I drew back the curtains and saw Mrs. Weasley still asleep on a cot beside me.

I had snuck off to the lavatory without waking Mrs. Weasley or the other girls since it was still very early in the morning. When I returned to the dorm after washing my face and dressing in my robes, I walked over and sat on my bed. I looked out the window and realised it was open, like always. Since the first day Cedric gave Aster to me I made sure to leave the window open in case they ever decided to leave since no one was quite sure how fairies felt as being kept as pets. That was when I realised that Aster hadn't been on my chest like always when I woke up and wasn't on their perch either. I stood and looked out the window and realised they had finally left.

"They were too sad to stay," I replied, despite having no frame of reference.

"I—I'm so sorry Marnie," Alicia said quietly.

I nodded, trying to suppress the tears that always seemed to be just beneath the surface.

Angelina walked up and enveloped me into a hug.

"We're still here for you Marnie, and nothing is going to change that," she stated confidently.

Only a few tears escaped before I stepped away from Angelina and looked at the others with a small smile. It was all I could muster before excusing myself to change in the lavatory. When I came back, I rushed towards my bed and enclosed myself behind the curtains before laying down and staring up at the ceiling. I don't know when I finally fell asleep but I could hear the quiet snores and rhythmic breathing from the other three for quite some time beforehand.

The next morning McGonagall handed all of us our very last school schedules. I saw the professor meet my eyes with a brief look of concern but I turned back towards my friends before she could say anything.

"Looks like we have that new professor first thing," Katie commented, seeing that we all had Defense this morning.

I looked over my schedule and frowned when I remembered I was still taking Care of Magical Creatures. Even worse was that Hagrid wasn't listed as the professor which is what I feared when I saw Professor Grubby-Plank sitting at the staff table at the feast last night.

"I miss Professor Moody," Lee said as we all walked towards the Defense classroom.

"Yea, except for the fact that it wasn't the real Professor Moody," George replied with a grimace.

"And it wasn't that ethical that he performed the Imperious curse on students," Alicia commented.

"Yea, well I'm just happy I learned to deflect it," I replied which surprised most of the others.

The girls looked at me worriedly while the twins smirked, sharing their own sense of morbid accomplishment. Lee looked torn between the two reactions.

We walked into class and took our regular seats we had occupied over the last six years.

"Weird to think that this is our last first day of school," Katie whispered beside me.

I nodded, thinking that I was relieved this was the last first day. I frowned, thinking of the excited eleven-year-old me who waited all her short life to come here above anything else.

"Good morning class," a sickly-sweet voice greeted us from the top of the staircase inside the classroom.

I glowered up at the pink-adorned professor.

A few students mumbled their greeting back while I continued to stare at her in annoyance. I knew the track record for our Defense teachers weren't great. But Lupin had been amazing while the not-Moody did actually teach us pretty advanced skills despite trying to kill Harry at the end of the year. Somehow, I figured this Ministry spy was going to be on par with Quirrell-Voldemort. I could only hope that no one could ever be on Lockhart's level of useless.

"This time with energy… Good morning class!" she sang out again.

Some of the students sighed but most responded cordially to the newest addition of the Hogwarts staff. I only continued to stare at her with disdain.

"Books out and wands away," she continued.

I heard Lee audibly sigh. I remembered last year he always got excited whenever not-Moody told us to put our books away. It seemed we weren't going to get those type of lessons anymore.

"As I introduced myself last night, my name is Professor Umbridge and I will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I have written on the board the three main objectives for this class. Please copy them into your notes. When you have done so, I ask that you all take out your books and read the first chapter on defensive theory," Professor Umbridge ordered before moving to take her seat behind her desk.

I looked up to read what was written on the board and felt my fists clench at the idiocy of the Ministry's techniques.

I rose my hand and continued to stare at the professor intently. She artfully resisted calling on me until I assumed her entire teacup was emptied from her constant sipping.

"And what is your name dear?" she asked delicately.

"Marnie O'Hara," I introduced myself impatiently.

"Is there something unclear about my instructions?" she asked with a thin smile.

"I don't understand how the Ministry constructed such aims that do not include actually defending ourselves against the dark arts," I explained myself blatantly.

I saw Fred look up from his textbook before looking between me and the professor with a frown.

"That is obvious my child, there is simply nothing in this world one would need to protect themselves against," she replied evenly.

My fists clenched tighter in front of me.

"How can you even believe in such nonsense?" I continued but Professor Umbridge stood up to cut me off.

"Everyone in this class will raise their hands and be called upon before speaking," she ordered.

Surprisingly I saw Fred and Angelina raise their hands before I did.

"Yes, what is your name?" Professor Umbridge said, calling upon Fred instead.

"Fred Weasley," he replied.

"Do you have any questions about the textbook?" she asked, trying to lead the conversation away from my initial inquiry.

"Yea, what is the point of reading a book that isn't even going to teach us about defending ourselves?" Fred asked.

"Like I was explaining to Miss. O'Hara, there is nothing dark in this world you need to concern yourself with," she replied more firmly.

"So Cedric Diggory died from what then? He was murdered for Merlin's sake!" Fred shouted back.

"Raise your hand Mr. Weasley!" Professor Umbridge barked.

I smashed my fists down on the desk before standing up.

Professor Umbridge met my gaze looking resentful that I had stirred up this amount of trouble during her first class.

"Mr. Diggory's death was a tragic accident, one that the Ministry is stepping in to avoid," Umbridge continued while keeping my gaze.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Voldemort," I seethed.

"It is very unfortunate that you believe your family's lies Miss. O'Hara. I believe I met your father earlier this summer at the Ministry. He proclaims himself to be Harry Potter's guardian does he not? You'll believe anything that boy says, especially since I remember reading Rita Skeeter's articles about your own relationship with Mr. Diggory," Umbridge pressed on with a determined glint in her eyes.

Fred stood up beside me now in his own anger.

"So you would rather us all die like Cedric than admit my family is right?" I asked, feeling my hatred for this woman rising up.

"Everyone in my class will raise their hand before speaking!" she bellowed. "And as apologetic as I am for your loss Miss. O'Hara I will not tolerate this type of behaviour. Come up here to my desk please."

I continued to glare at her before walking down the aisle to the front of the classroom.

"Bring this to Professor McGonagall," she said while handing me a pink piece of rolled parchment.

I nodded without another word, at least thankful to be leaving her horrible class early.

I walked off to Professor McGonagall's chambers beside the Gryffindor common room. I knocked and only waited a moment before she answered the door.

"Is everything alright?" she asked more delicately than I was used to.

"Professor Umbridge wanted me to give this to you," I replied evenly.

McGonagall took the rolled parchment from my hand before unfurling it to read it.

"You were spouting anti-Ministry propaganda in Professor Umbridge's class?" she asked, looking astonished.

"Well, I did tell her Voldemort was back," I replied bluntly.

McGonagall nodded before standing back from the doorway and invited me inside.

"I know you understood what Professor Umbridge was saying at the feast yesterday, so I do not feel there is any sense in warning you about her," McGonagall said.

"No there isn't," I replied with my arms folded over my chest.

McGonagall sighed.

"You and Potter are very similar in responding when something upsets you," McGonagall observed.

"Upset? Cedric was murdered and the Ministry is deliberately covering it up! It's an insult to his memory!" I retorted angrily.

McGonagall pursed her lips before coming to stand in front of me.

"We all remember Cedric Diggory as an honourable and caring student of this school. In time, everyone will come to know the truth. Until then, those of us who believe will carry the truth and his memory," McGonagall replied confidently.

I nodded before McGonagall handed me back the slip of paper.

"You have detention with Professor Umbridge all week, starting tonight," she explained.

I only nodded again before leaving her chambers and deciding to head down to the Great Hall to meet everyone there at lunch.

After lunch all the seventh years walked to Transfiguration together. Fred still seemed angry but no one outright talked about how obvious it seemed Umbridge was going to be an outright pain.

"Now, this year you will all be writing your NEWTs. As expected, this year will be the most demanding of your entire school careers," McGonagall started the class off with her usual direct approach.

Soon after she started her lecture on human transfiguration.

"We're supposed to change our facial appearance by the end of the week?!" Lee exclaimed when McGonagall dismissed the class.

"NEWT level is the only level allowed to perform such spells supposedly," Katie commented as we made our way back towards the Great Hall for supper.

"This year is going to be rather difficult isn't it?" Alicia asked, stating the obvious about our NEWT year.

I followed everyone silently and managed to eat a few bites before I was due to go and serve my first detention with Umbridge.

"I must say I am a bit proud that Marnie beat Fred and George for receiving the first detention of the year," Lee commented as I stood up to leave.

"Yup, a whole week's worth," I replied, not feeling nearly as enthusiastic about it as Lee.

"I would feel the same way if Marnie had actually earned the detention. A whole week for putting that toad in her place, what a joke," Fred replied sounding more frustrated.

I knew he was upset about the whole thing but I also knew there wasn't much any of us could do about it. It was obvious that the Ministry was providing their own Defense teacher to try and silence anyone who supported Harry and Dumbledore.

"It's alright Fred, it's only detention. Wait up for me alright?" I asked more kindly as I put my hand on his shoulder.

He brought one of his hands up to cover mine. "Of course Hare, we'll stay up and tell you about the recruitments for our first trial."

I nodded, knowing that the boys already made consent forms for the trials for their products. I figured Hermione would try and shut down their efforts but I felt it wasn't worth bringing up since nothing was going to stop the twins from perfecting their products.

I retracted my hand from Fred's before patting his head and then moving to leave the Great Hall. I walked back up to the Defense classroom for five o'clock sharp. When I entered into the Defense hallway I was only somewhat surprised to see Harry arriving from the other end.

"I assume you insulted the new teacher as well?" I asked knowingly.

Harry tried for a smile but ended up grimacing back at me.

"Her and the Ministry are pretending Cedric died for nothing… like it was a bloody accident!" Harry started.

I flinched despite myself but moved to stand in front of Harry. I grabbed onto his hand reassuringly.

"We will carry Cedric's memory until everyone else realises what his sacrifice meant," I replied, thinking about what McGonagall said to me earlier.

Harry still looked annoyed but nodded before we walked to the door of Umbridge's office.

Harry knocked before we heard Umbridge call us in from the other side. We opened the door and walked into the ghastly looking office which was adorned from top to bottom in pink. Even more disturbing was her chosen décor. Where Lockhart had once hung pictures of himself covering the walls, Umbridge had chosen pictures and china plates covered in cats.

"Good evening Mr. Potter and Miss. O'Hara. Tonight I will have you writing lines," Umbridge greeted us as she pointed to the desk where two seats were set up.

Harry and I obligingly walked over and took our seats before pulling out some loose parchment.

"Today you will both be using a pair of rather special quills of mine," she explained in her overly sweet voice.

"And what will we be writing professor?" I asked, trying not to show my disdain for her.

"How about… _I must not tell lies,"_ she replied with her toothy grin.

I saw as Harry clenched his fists. I felt similar frustration rise up inside me but only nodded and began to write.

"There's no ink professor," Harry added but this only seemed to amuse the professor even more.

"These quills do not require ink to write," she answered pleasantly.

I looked at her knowing she seemed too pleased with herself. But instead of asking any more questions I brought my quill down to the parchment

 _I mu—_

I started to write but instantly felt my left hand pierce with pain.

I lifted my hand from the parchment and surveyed it to see the three letters I had just written were now etched into my skin with blood.

I felt my anger rise up even more but refused to say anything. Instead, I looked over to see Harry looking similarly to me with anger. We met each other's gaze, probably being more upset that the other was experiencing the same pain rather than ourselves.

"Is there anything wrong?" she asked, daring us to speak against her.

We both turned our gaze to her and shook our heads.

"No professor," we replied before we begrudgingly returned our attention to our parchments.

"How many times do we have to write our lines?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

"As many times as it takes to sink in," she replied cunningly.

By the time Umbridge dismissed us, it was sufficiently dark out outside.

"Are you going to tell Joss or Remus about this?" Harry asked on our way back.

"I don't see a point in worrying them even more than I have already this summer," I replied. "Are you going to tell Sirius?"

"I think the fewer people who know about it the better," Harry replied.

We both nodded, knowing that there were worse things going on that Umbridge's sadistic detention methods.

Once we got to the Gryffindor common room we went our separate ways. I noticed that Hermione and Ron were up waiting for Harry while Fred and George were over waiting for me. I instantly regretted asking them to wait up for me since I knew I couldn't hide my hand for very long.

"Hey Hare," Fred greeted as I sat down beside him.

"How was detention with the toad-woman?" George asked in an amused tone.

"It was a joke. She only made Harry and I write lines," I replied easily.

"That seems quite lax than what I was expecting from her. Maybe I won't hold back as much around her then and really tell her what I think," Fred replied.

"No, please don't!" I stated before realising I was being too obvious.

"Why? What's wrong Hare?" Fred asked looking more concerned.

I reflexively moved my hand but it was enough for both of the twins to notice.

Since Fred was sitting beside me he was closer and grabbed my hand. His thumb unknowingly grabbed onto the cuts on my skin which caused me to wince.

"What the hell happened to you Marnie?" George asked sounding anxious.

"Did she do this to you?!" Fred asked, growing infuriated now.

I looked between both of them and knew I couldn't lie. Plus, Fred was already reading the words etched onto my hands.

"I must not tell lies?" George asked, looking over to where Fred had my arm outstretched.

"That's how this woman is spreading her nonsense propaganda? By having you etch it into your skin? That's just sick!" Fred was seething now.

"You can't tell anybody! Not any of the other teachers or even our parents!" I replied, pulling my hand back defensively.

"What do you mean we can't tell anyone?" Fred retorted angrily.

"Just think, Umbridge is already here to get dirt on Dumbledore and Harry. Plus, our parents are already worried about me enough with how I acted over the summer and they have enough on their plate with other things," I said pointedly, referring to their heavy involvement with the Order.

"Umbridge already as good as threatened my dad when she mentioned him being at Harry's trial. I don't want to give her any more ammunition to go against my father or anyone else. If all I have to do is suffer through a week's worth of detentions for believing the truth about Cedric then so be it," I explained with more resolve.

Both of the twins wrestled with my response but ultimately agreed to my reasoning. Surprisingly, instead Fred leaned over and pulled me into an embrace.

"I just want to protect you," Fred whispered into my ear.

I let him hold me for a few moments, allowing him to put me more at ease. When I pulled back, I worked up the first genuine smile I had felt since June.

"I don't want you risking yourself for my own protection. I can take care of myself you know," I replied earnestly.

Fred smiled. "Doesn't mean I don't have a lot to make up for. Plus, I did promise you when we were eleven."

I continued to look at Fred while I continued to smile. "I forgive you."

I had known for a while now that I hadn't been angry at Fred in a long time, probably even before Cedric died. Fred continued to meet my gaze while now looking uneasy.

"I don't deserve that, but I'll make sure you don't regret it," he replied evenly before grabbing my left hand with the bloodied scars.

He kissed the side of my hand softly where there was still some dried blood. I felt myself become shocked but chose not to say anything. I didn't really know how to respond to Fred's reaction but felt myself smile softly anyways. In that moment I felt too selfish to think that maybe it wasn't the right way for Fred to react because it made me feel more calm than I had felt in ages.


	61. Can't Sleep

Each night for the remainder of the week Harry and I met in the Great Hall for a quick dinner before heading up to serve our detentions with Umbridge. Each night was the same, Umbridge would make us write the same lines over and over with her _special_ quills.

"It's not bloody right!" Fred clenched his fists when I returned to the common room Friday night after my final detention.

"It's all over now so don't worry about it so much," I replied with a shrug, pulling my sleeves down to cover my torn flesh.

The truth was that my hand felt raw from being torn into so many times by that damn quill but I already knew Fred and George were worried enough as it was.

"Ready for quidditch tryouts tomorrow?" I asked, blatantly changing the subject.

"Yup! It'll be cool to see Ange as captain," George replied brightly.

I smiled, still feeling proud of Angelina for getting the mantle of quidditch captain since Oliver Wood had already graduated. She had been busting at the seams when she told us about it on the train coming to school.

"Does everyone need to try out for their positions again?" I asked as I sat down beside Fred on the love seat.

"No, just Oliver's old position," Fred answered while he looked over some plans for a new joke product in front of him.

"I hope Ron get's it," I replied encouragingly but the twins both scoffed.

"Hey, it would do you two some good to treat him more fairly," I retorted.

"Well, if he ever did anything worthy of our praise we might respect him more. All he ever seems to do is follow after Harry and give Hermione a hard time," George responded.

"Not everyone is as carefree as you two. I mean look at Neville, he's very soft spoken but that doesn't degrade his character," I argued my point.

"Hey, we don't have anything against Neville," Fred replied defensively.

"Yea, and he at least had the nerve to ask out Ginny to the ball last year. I might have had a problem with Ginny going but Neville is the trustworthy type. Plus, Gin said she had a really good time," George continued.

"Ron couldn't even work up the nerve to ask anyone and wound up going alone," Fred added while shaking his head.

"Pathetic," they both agreed in unison.

"Hey! I George went stag as well!" I retorted.

"Yea, well that's because Freddie over here decided to ask the girl I wanted to take," George shot back.

Fred frowned, looking embarrassed with himself. "Sorry again about that mate."

"Wait, so who would you have taken instead hmm?" I looked at Fred goadingly.

"Erm—how the hell did we get talking about ball dates? Ron is a git end of story!" Fred huffed before he rolled up the parchment in front of him and stood up.

"I'll see you two in the morning," Fred said without looking back and headed upstairs.

George also stood up, looking after his twin before he turned back at me and smiled.

"Good-night Marnie," George said before he also went up the stairs to go to sleep.

I continued to stare up at the boy's staircase and felt my stomach sink. The truth was that bringing up the ball brought back my own memories of that night. Cedric had made sure to make it wonderful and I couldn't help but ache to see him again.

Instead of letting myself wallow I went and grabbed a book from my room and brought it back down to sit by the fire. I knew that if I went upstairs to sleep that I would be plagued by the same nightmares I had been having about Cedric. I heard enough of Harry's story to know how Cedric died. And even though Fred had sheltered my view from Cedric's dead body that didn't stop my mind from imagining it.

After a while I felt my head tilt back onto the edge of the sofa once my eyes finally got too heavy to keep reading. When I opened my eyes sometime later it was to see that I was now standing in the living room at my house. There was also a man standing just inside the doorway as I stood there facing him.

"Dumbledore _?"_ I asked, surprised to see my headmaster paying us a house visit.

"I haven't had any luck reaching the Longbottom's. Alice is supposed to be on duty with you tonight so I was hoping you could send me word once you speak with her?" he asked and I realised that I had yet again been transported into my mother's memories.

"Of course Dumbledore, I'll head there right now," my mother agreed.

Dumbledore nodded before looking behind me towards the kitchen.

"Good evening Joss," Dumbledore greeted as he bowed his head before turning to exit the cottage.

"I'll be back by morning dear," my mother called out lovingly.

"Marnie and I will have breakfast ready for you," my father replied as he waved us both off.

My father was smiling back at my mother but I also noticed how worried he looked. I often wondered how it must have truly been for him to stay at home with a toddler while my mother went off to only eventually become hospitalised.

"Good evening Lena," Dumbledore said once he and my mother were past the front gardens. I figured this must be where the magic wards ended and people could apparate.

Dumbledore immediately disappeared after that and the next moment my mother was twisting her toe on the ground. Instantly, my mother was standing on a street in London. The house directly in front of her was a part of a row of houses that looked fairy typical. It had red brick siding and a black roof that connected seamlessly into the houses next door. My mother rang the doorbell while taking her wand out of her pocket, as if by instinct. My mother only waited a few seconds before she uttered some enchantments and let herself in. Once she entered I noticed that the air in the house was very still. There was a den off to the side that was clear of any sign of people which caused my mother to continue towards the back of the house. Once she started moving down the hallway though I could hear sounds of movement.

"Alice? Frank?" my mother called out.

"Wait… this was Neville's house," I thought to myself as my stomach dropped.

 _"Why am I here?!"_ I thought frantically as my mother turned the corner into the kitchen.

My fears came true as my mother gazed down upon two of her dearest friends who were both trembling on the floor.

They looked as if they were too weak to stand and I already knew it was even worse than my mother thought. Instinctually, my mother ran to Alice first who was only a few feet in front of her.

"Alice?" my mother asked more softly.

Alice flinched at my mother's touch but my mother held on and brought Alice's face to look up at hers.

"Alice?" my mother asked again and this time Alice Longbottom met my mother's gaze.

But instead of showing signs of relief at seeing her friend standing before her, Alice looked horrified.

"Alice?" my mother whispered, sensing now that there was something very wrong.

Instead of answering, Alice momentarily stopped fighting against my mother's grasp and instead opened her mouth very wide. There was a moment's pause where my mother stopped moving and Alice inhaled deeply. Then, Alice let out her breath in an excruciating scream that pierced my mother's ears.

"NO!" I shouted inside my mother's head and closed my own eyes.

When the screaming finally stopped I opened my eyes to see that I was back sitting in the Gryffindor common room. My neck was stiff from leaning back on the couch and I looked around to see that no one else as up. Judging by the moon outside it was the middle of the night but there was no way I could go back to sleep now. I looked down to see that my hands were trembling and all I wanted to do was be held close by someone. I stood up and let my feet carry me up to where I wanted to go. My mind was still reeling from my dream but I stopped when I realised that we weren't necessarily kids anymore, so maybe this wasn't appropriate. Sleeping in the same bed as Cedric had meant something entirely different so could I really crawl into bed with the twins and have it be as innocent as it was when we were younger? The scream in my head shook any lingering doubts though as I quietly opened the door and closed it behind me. I then walked over and stood in between both of the twins' beds. Standing in between them, I realised it had been over a year since I had done this or had even been in this room that still seemed so familiar. Somewhere on the other side of the room I could hear Lee snoring and Kenneth rolling over. There were several scattered materials for joke products around both Fred and George's beds that somehow already put me more at ease. I only paused for another moment before deciding to climb into bed with Fred. When I had retrieved my book earlier I changed into some trackpants and a t-shirt so I was already dressed to go to sleep.

I tried to be as careful as possible climbing in but the bed was only single sized and we were much bigger now than we had been in our first year.

"Wha's goin on Georgie?" Fred grumbled in a sleepy voice.

I froze, immediately thinking this might not have been the best idea.

"Hare?" Fred asked more in surprise as he opened his eyes and saw who was actually climbing into his bed.

I didn't respond but only sat there mid-way to getting into bed. Fred's face didn't easily give away what he was thinking but I felt he was thinking far too many things for one to show prominently on his features. He also didn't say anything but instead grabbed for my hand to pull me the rest of the way in. Mistakenly, Fred grabbed onto my injured hand which caused me to wince in pain. Fred looked down and grimaced at the sight of my cut up hand. But instead of complaining like he had before he brought my hand to his lips and softly kissed the scars. His lips were a little chapped but it still felt soothing to feel them softly pressed on my skin. After a few moments Fred brought my hand back down and moved his thumb so it didn't touch the cuts, but he also didn't let go. Instead he pulled me towards him until I was laying securely in his arms. He never said a word and I didn't offer an explanation. We just laid there as I let the rhythm of his breathing still my thoughts and lull me to sleep.


	62. NEWT Level Challenges

"So, are we celebrating Ron making it onto the team?" I asked as I helped the twins bring up crates of butter beer to the common room.

"Well, Ange thought it would boost morale for having the team put together. She admitted she'd been a bit hard on Harry for missing the tryouts due to those wretched detentions," Fred frowned as we reached the common room.

"But, it is good that Ron made the team," I tried again, feeling proud that their younger brother got the keeper position.

It was obvious Ron really wanted it, but the twins still wouldn't quit going after him for the prefect position so I only hoped they wouldn't get worse over this new mantel for Ron.

"Yea, I guess. It beats having that Geoffrey Hooper on the team, he never quits whining!" Fred replied.

Once the three of us entered the room Lee ran over to help carry the supplies and disperse them to start the celebration for the start of the quidditch season.

"Well, I think it'll be a good thing," I replied firmly but both twins just gave a non-committal grunt and George shrugged his shoulders.

I grabbed two butter beers and went over to congratulate Ange on her efforts for putting together the quidditch team.

"How's it going Captain?" I asked, passing her the extra bottle.

She took it gratefully and sighed as we both sat down onto a love set opposite Alicia and Katie.

"It's a lot more work than I initially thought," she said before taking a deep swig from her bottle.

"Yea, but Gryffindor has our reputation to uphold! There's no way we're going to lose in our last year," Katie said determinedly.

"Yea, just so long as Ron puts in the effort and Harry stays out of detention!" Angelina said, looking worried over the fragility of the team.

"No wonder Oliver was always getting after the twins for landing themselves in detention all the time," Alicia said as Angelina nodded.

"I'm sure it'll be a great season," I said enthusiastically while the others smiled encouragingly at Angelina.

"Oh, there's Ron! I have to go make sure Oliver's old robes fit him," Angelina shot out of her seat as Ron entered the common room.

I tried catching Ron's eye to smile at him but he was too busy talking with Angelina and Harry. Harry looked put off for missing the tryouts and I had to admit that Harry rarely looked happy these days. It was only the beginning of term and he always looked like he had a chip on his shoulder. I knew me ignoring him during the summer might not have been the best idea and he barely made it through his trial without getting expelled. Now the Ministry was spouting lies about him and Dumbledore and it seemed that Lucius Malfoy might have recognised Sirius at King's Cross which had us all worried. And being his age and watching Cedric die must have been truly horrible. They had never been close and I knew Harry never particularly liked me dating him but it didn't mean he didn't feel loss after watching his fellow champion die during the tournament. I felt like I was failing in my responsibilities as a sister to comfort him, but I was hardly coping with the loss myself. I didn't really want to be at Hogwarts when there seemed to be much more important things to do, like preparing for an impending war. The only thing that kept me wanting to stay here was to learn all that I could to fight, but the Ministry was doing their damndest to prevent us from doing that as well.

"Want to help out?" George came up to me, carrying a list in his hands.

I looked behind him to see an assembled group of first years who were all accepting candies from Fred. I knew they were trying out the Nosebleed Nougats from their Skiving Snackbox collection.

"Yea alright. Someone has to make sure you're not poisoning the little firsties," I replied with a smirk.

"Keep your voice down will ya, don't let Hermione hear you say things like that!" George retorted before casting his gaze towards the sleeping prefect.

"I thought you weren't afraid of Hermione being a prefect," I replied smugly.

"Yea, well… she recently threatened us with a letter home to our mother," George replied with a grim look.

"Whoa, she means business," I replied more earnestly.

It was no secret between us that Mrs. Weasley was seemingly against the twins developing their products. She would rather them collect their NEWTs and go into the Ministry after school was over. To me though that seemed rather dull and Percy was a prime example to show that going into the Ministry wasn't necessarily a good idea.

I sat down beside Lee and watched as Fred finished handing out a candy to all the first years who signed up for the experiment. As one by one popped the candy into their mouths its effect was immediate and looked as if it was turning on an internal faucet. Each of the test subjects spouted a rather heavy nosebleed. Lee took down notes furiously as George passed out white looking candies to each of them in turn. Once the individual consumed the second candy, their nose bleed subsequently stopped. I beamed at the twins while Fred passed out tissues to everyone to wipe away the blood.

"I think that deserves a toast!" Lee beamed as he passed Fred and George each a butter beer.

The first years looked little worse for wear and it seemed this Snackbox was good to go on the market.

I smiled at the boys and felt proud that the project they had started in their bedroom was finally taking off. It was difficult to sometimes see how ambitious the twins actually were when school had never been their priority. But I knew developing these products had taken years of work that was finally coming into development.

The quidditch team eventually started to head off to bed so I took the opportunity to follow. I was happy that Fred and George had taken the celebration as an excuse to execute a trial without raising suspicion from Hermione and Ron. This meant that I didn't have to truly celebrate since I didn't really have the energy to be that enthusiastic for extended periods of time. It was nice though to see my friends lives returning to normal as they dove into quidditch and their seventh year routine.

XX

The next morning I followed Fred and the others into Charms class. Hermione had read the paper to us over breakfast so we knew to expect Umbridge sitting in on some of our classes. Unluckily for us, it seemed we were once again the first to experience Umbridge as she sat at the back of Flitwick's classroom.

"I wonder what she'll do?" Lee asked as we all took our usual seats.

"Flitwick is up to par though, I'm sure she won't have any issues with him," Alicia said optimistically.

I only frowned as I took out my textbook and made an effort to center myself so Umbridge could only see the back of my head. I wouldn't let her use her blatant dislike for me to disrupt her evaluation on Flitwick since he was a very excellent teacher.

"Attention class!" Flitwick called out once the final bell sounded. "As most of you might be aware, Professor Umbridge will be our guest this morning to evaluate the class. However, this does not have any bearing on your learning so we will proceed as normal."

I smiled at Flitwick's attitude towards the toad woman. As always, I didn't think Flitwick was capable of being rude to anyone but it seemed he wasn't going to give her any added attention or praise either.

"Now, in your NEWT year it is important that we advance your wand skills as much as possible. This week we are focusing on nonverbal spells. I know we learned this last year but we will be using your skills on more advanced spells. Today I want you to attempt to cast a summoning spell without speaking. So, please bring all of your textbooks to the front of the class and place them on my desk. Then, return to your own desk and try summoning it back to you," Flitwick instructed.

We all followed his directions and spent the rest of the class working up a sweat as we focused on silently willing our books to return to us. Near the end of class I managed to send my book sliding across the floor until it stopped at my feet. Flitwick came over to instruct me on the strength of my spell when I noticed Umbridge come up to Alicia to start asking her questions.

"What did she ask you?" I probed Alicia once Charms was over.

"Only how I got on in the class and if I liked how Flitwick teaches normally. Of course I answered that he is quite good," she replied with a smile.

I nodded at Alicia who looked like she hadn't just been interrogated by a devil. "I'll see you guys later then, I have Care of Magical Creatures next," I said before turning to go out to the grounds.

I could see Professor Grubbly-Plank as I headed towards the spot where she always held class.

My shoulders sank lower as I arrived at the class that I used to think of as my favourite. There were only a few students that had made it this far in Care of Magical Creatures as an elective. This class had been an awkward mess now that only Liam and I remained out of our usual trio. Liam didn't talk to me much, usually only giving me a standoffish greeting.

I sat down on one of the benches the professor had arranged before pulling out my book. The sky looked like it might rain later on but Professor Grubbly-Plank always held class outside if the weather allowed for it.

"Alright class, I assigned last week for each of you to read the chapter on Yetis. I also asked you to write three feet on their habits and Ministry categorization. I want to start class by discussing what you learned. Please pair off and explain to your partner why it is that wizards are lacking in accurate knowledge about this creature," she ordered before the class broke off into pairs.

I looked around despairingly that I would have to find a partner and surprisingly found that Liam was staring at me. He obligingly stood up and moved over to sit down beside me.

"Erm, so what did you find out about yetis?" I asked, not understanding why Liam was choosing to talk to me now.

"You know, I'm not angry with you or anything," Liam started, ignoring my question.

"Alright," I replied uneasily.

"It's just, I really miss him and you just remind me of how happy I was last year having my best mate around. You were always with him and it just hurts to know he's not here anymore," Liam explained as my expression sank into a frown.

He then turned to face me with his own despairing expression. "But, I know that's not fair and Cedric would kick my ass for treating you this way. I don't know if I can go back to how things were before, but I'm willing to work together in class at least."

His offer lingered between us as I contemplated what he was telling me. Truthfully, I hadn't been angry with Liam either at his prolonged silence towards me. But, getting through this class with an ally did sound better than going it alone.

"Alright, classmates then?" I asked, causing him to smile.

"Yea, classmates," he agreed.

We then spent the rest of class comparing notes and discussing the dangers of yetis who reportedly ate any wizard they came into contact with.

After class I headed back to the castle alone and ended up sitting down for dinner. When I arrived I didn't see any of my friends who were probably still up in the common room. So instead I sat down beside Harry who was sitting alone, sulking over his bowl of food.

"Hey Harry," I said to get his attention as I sat down and served myself a bowl of stew.

Harry didn't bother looking up and only tensed his shoulders at my arrival. I looked at him with concern before he broke the uncomfortable silence.

"So, what are you doing after school Marnie? Following in the 'Fred and George route'?" Harry asked rather darkly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked sharply, knowing by his tone that it wasn't meant as a compliment.

"Percy sent Ron a letter and said he was happy Ron had gotten prefect, saves him from following in Fred and George's footsteps. Now Ron just has to ditch me as a friend and he's all geared up to be the next Ministry stooge just like his dear older brother," Harry scathed into his supper.

"Harry, is everything alright? I mean, this is nothing new that Percy is a prat and the Ministry is actively trying to make you and Dumbledore out to be frauds," I said as I dropped my spoon and looked at him evenly.

"I mean you must be in almost as bad a place if you're best friends with the twins and get stuck having me as a brother. I mean we're not even connected by blood for Merlin's sake!" Harry continued hotly.

I continued to stare at him and narrowed my eyes.

"Is that how you feel? That we're not family because we don't share the same blood?" I asked coolly.

Harry's eyes shot up at me and I saw his anger waiver into guilt.

"Well, no. You've always been my sister Marnie but I'm just so sick of everything lately," Harry exclaimed.

"Harry I know you're frustrated but don't go spouting nonsense that we're not family. And as for my best friends I couldn't have asked for better ones. They're the only ones right now not judging me as being Cedric's old girlfriend or such nonsense. I agree that this year pretty much sucks, but don't go severing the ties you still have," I replied evenly.

Harry sighed again and dunked his spoon aggressively into his bowl.

"Yea, I'm sorry," he muttered but looked up at me apologetically.

"As I figure, it's common for younger brothers to throw tantrums once in a while," I replied with a shrug.

"Yea, I guess. I'll see you later Marnie," Harry said before he stood up without touching the rest of his supper.

I frowned back at him but was delayed in following him upstairs when my friends entered the Great Hall and started talking about the struggles of their new quidditch team. By the time we reached the common room that night, most of my friends were exhausted and called it an early night. I used this rare quiet time to take out by books and work on my newly assigned paper on crups for next week. I got a good start on it and kept working until all I needed to do was revisions on it tomorrow night. When I looked up I was surprised to see that only Harry, Hermione and Ron were the only ones remaining in the common room. I surveyed the room to make sure no one else as awake and gasped when I saw a familiar face sticking out of the fire.

"Hey Marnie," Sirius greeted as I dropped my papers and ran over to the fireplace.

Harry and the others bolted over as well so we were all squatting in front of the fire.

"I'm lucky that you guys all stayed up tonight," Sirius said with a smile.

"Yea, it is rare. What are you doing here though! It's so good to see you!" I replied, feeling happier than I would have expected to see Sirius poking his head out of the fire.

I looked over at Harry and could tell that Sirius was also successful in abating some of the frustration Harry seemed to be carrying around today.

"Well, I wanted to answer Harry's letter and it didn't hurt to have an excuse to see the two of you. It's so dull now that you are all back at school," Sirius said rather gloomily.

I frowned at him but he soon erased his expression and replaced it with an easy smile.

"What did you write about?" I asked, not knowing Harry had chanced writing a letter when Moody had warned us against it.

"Well, I wanted to reassure you Harry that I don't think it's much cause for concern that your scar is hurting. I mean we know he's back to power now and it hurt you a lot last year as well," Sirius replied instead.

I turned and looked worriedly at Harry. I knew from the summer that Harry's scar was hurting but he hadn't mentioned it to me recently.

"And what about Umbridge?" Harry asked.

"I don't think it's likely she's being possessed by him either. She has quite the reputation but that also points to the fact that she most likely not a Death Eater," Sirius replied with a sour look.

"What about you Marnie? Have you had any dreams lately?" Sirius asked, changing the subject about how horrible Umbridge was.

I didn't blame Harry for thinking she was a Death Eater but I hadn't thought she was based on how she was singing the Ministry's praises.

"Erm—well I did recently have one about Frank and Alice, the night they were tortured," I replied meekly.

I hadn't really talked about my nightmare that sent me heading towards Fred's room the other night. Fred had asked me about it the next morning but I just said it was a memory back from when my mother was part of the Order.

"Hm," Sirius grunted. "I'll mention it to the Order because I do find that a little peculiar. But, I wouldn't worry either. At least we do know that Alice and Frank aren't in any danger."

Sirius' frown deepened and I could see Ron and Hermione exchange looks of confusion, presumably because they didn't know who Frank and Alice were.

"Has there been any word of Hagrid?" Harry asked, changing the subject again.

"No, but Dumbledore's not worried. Hagrid was sent on a mission with Madame Maxime and she reported that he went off on his own. I don't want you stirring up attention over Hagrid considering how difficult it is to ignore the fact that he's already been absent this long," Sirius replied.

I frowned, thinking that Care of Magical Creatures would be more bearable if Hagrid was teaching it again. I also worried that he was off alone on some Order mission and was overdue on his return date.

"So, I was thinking of stopping by on your next Hogsmeade trip…" Sirius started but Harry and Hermione cut him off.

"No, you can't!" they shouted back at him.

"Why, because of what the Prophet said? They won't discover it's me," Sirius explained non-chalantly.

"Sirius, we're sure Lucius Malfoy was the one who recognised you at King's Cross. You can't afford being spotted again," Hermione said worriedly.

"And what do you two think of all this?" Sirius said more icily as he looked between Harry and me.

Harry met my gaze furtively and I could see his blatant worry. It didn't bother me as much that Sirius might have been spotted, but then again it would be too painful if he was sent back to Azkaban and Merlin knew how much the Ministry was pinning all of Voldemort's doings on Sirius in the papers.

"Maybe it's not such a good idea," I replied uneasily as Harry nodded in earnest beside me.

"James and Lena would have been thrilled to see me," Sirius said rather harshly as I recoiled back.

Sirius continued to frown before he made up some excuse about Creature coming up the stairs. A moment later there was a popping noise and Sirius exited back out of the fireplace.

"That was the right decision wasn't it?" I asked uneasily.

"Of course it was!" Hermione said severely before she went back and collected her things from where she had been sitting.

I did the same as I collected my paper on crups from the floor and stuffed it into my rucksack. My gaze turned back towards the fire where I stared longingly at it to be pulled back with Sirius and my family. Despite how painful I had found living at Grimmauld place during the summer, I realised now that it was better being altogether as a family there than separated and miserable here.


	63. We Need To Be Ready

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked Hermione from across the common room.

In response, she tucked her book under her arm and came to join me at the small table I had claimed to do my homework. All of my other friends were at quidditch practice and Harry had reportedly landed himself in another detention with Umbridge. I was feeling rather uptight about the whole situation since I wasn't even there to endure the medieval punishment with him. I had also noticed Hermione staring at me on and off for the past twenty minutes and finally lost my nerve.

"You're almost as short-tempered as Harry is lately," she said in greeting as she sat down across from me.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked again, wanting to brush over having to apologize for mine and Harry's behaviour.

"Actually, I wanted to ask for your help in something to do with Harry," Hermione explained.

"And what is it that you want him to do?" I asked suspiciously.

I knew Harry was more rough around the edges lately and that I wasn't all that much better off. I could see it in the way my friends looked at me in concern or how students seemed to whisper behind me whenever I passed them.

"Well, I think that we really ought to be learning more spells, and I think Harry is the one to teach us," Hermione stated confidently.

I looked at her and saw how genuine she felt that Harry would make a proper teacher to learn more defensive spells.

"I mean, he's faced off against You Know Who three times now while in school and he can cast a full Patronus charm among all the other spells he used during the tournament last year," Hermione made her case.

"And you think he will say no so you want me to convince him?" I asked.

"Well, yes," Hermione answered plainly.

"And what makes you think I can change his stubborn mind?" it seemed Hermione was quite set on her idea if she was coming to me for help.

"Come on Marnie, you know how much he cares about your opinion. You know how much family means to him," Hermione replied. "And I know you're worried about him but I think this might do him some good to feel like he's actually preparing to fight against You Know Who instead of arguing with Umbridge all the time about it."

I sighed, knowing her point was coming across stronger than my resolve to keep Harry safe and away from any reminders of the tournament or Voldemort's uprising.

"Alright, when do I have to convince him by?" I asked in defeat.

"This weekend, I want to spread the word and have any interested parties meet at the Hog's Head during the Hogsmeade trip," Hermione explained with a nervous smile.

She knew it was a tall order to convince Harry by then so I sighed but nodded.

She beamed at me but left it at that before taking her book and disappeared up the girl's dormitory staircase. I figured tonight was as good as any since there were only a few days between now and the Hogsmeade trip so I waited for Harry to return from detention. About an hour later he came through the portrait hole looking rather irritated. I looked down and saw his raw bloodied hand. Thankfully, Hermione now had a stash of Murtlap essence which she had given me earlier in the week since she figured I was the next obvious candidate to land in another detention with Umbridge after Harry.

Harry caught my glance before he moved over to sit beside me. I passed him the bowl I had waiting to which he gratefully took and stuck his hand in.

"You waiting for the twins to get back?" Harry asked, knowing Ron and the others were still out practicing quidditch.

"Actually, I was asked to speak to you," I replied.

"Asked? By who?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, Hermione was actually wondering if you would teach some interested students some defensive spells?" I explained, feeling I wasn't selling it good enough for Harry to agree.

"Marnie, what are you talking about? Why would anyone want me to teach them defense spells?"

"Well, Hermione wanted to spread the word and ask if people are interested in learning defensive magic, properly I mean. Honestly, I was against it too when she asked, but now I think it's a good idea," Harry started to object but I stopped him.

"Listen Harry, I think it's unbelievable bad luck what's all happened to you over the past five years. But, the fact that you survived and adapted enough to get through it all is miraculous in itself. As your big sister, I don't want you to get caught up in anymore of this. But knowing the truth, I know he's coming for you and I want you to be ready… no I need you to be ready because I can't have you mercilessly slaughtered like Cedric," my voice sank to a whisper by the time I finished speaking.

Harry looked at me with a mixture of horror, sadness and anger. "Alright, I'll do it. Not that I really think people will show up to whatever Hermione is planning. But Marnie, promise me that you'll be ready too, when the time comes?"

I could see the same worry in Harry's expression that I felt for him, knowing that Voldemort was bringing a war to us sometime soon.

"Of course. I'll have a great teacher won't I?" I beamed at him before I decided to call it a night as well.

I patted him on the shoulder and left him to soak his hand since he was deciding to wait and stay up to talk with Ron. I knew he wanted to catch up on what he missed at quidditch practice and I only hoped Ange didn't give him too hard a time.

XX

"This is exciting isn't it?" Angelina asked as the seven of us headed down to Hogsmeade that weekend.

"Yea, I can't believe Harry actually agreed to teach us," Lee added.

"Well, he does listen to his big sister," George replied rather cheekily.

"If only he listened to his quidditch captain as much as he listened to his sister," Angelina muttered under her breath.

"Come on Ange, lighten up! It's our day off," George said happily.

I watched between them as George continued to smile easily and Angelina blushed. I couldn't help but think that maybe something could still happen between them even though George hadn't really mentioned anything about it since last year.

"Have you ever been to the Hog's Head?" Alicia asked.

"No, I hear it's kind of dingy," Katie replied.

"Well, Hermione didn't want to arouse suspicion. I mean the Ministry has made it pretty clear that they don't want us learning defensive magic," I replied irritably.

"Is that the place?" Alicia asked pointing to the pub up ahead.

"There looks like a lot of people are heading in," Lee observed.

"Well, we are learning from the infamous Boy Who Lived," Fred said audaciously.

I swatted at him but he dodged my fist and took my hand, pulling me ahead until we made it to the pub. Once inside, I met Harry's uneasy gaze as we both noticed how many people had gotten Hermione's message.

"Well, I better go get the drinks then," Fred announced, counting the heads of everyone in the bar. "That'll be twenty-five butterbeers please."

The barkeep looked like he had never seen so many people in his establishment before.

I surveyed the room as George pulled me along to a group of vacant seats. I was happy to see Neville and Luna had come along with Ginny. A few more Gryffindor's from Harry's year were also in attendance along with some Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students. I met Liam's gaze who was sitting with Natalie. He offered a small smile but I knew he wouldn't come over. I was happy though to see that he had his hand casually laying on Natalie's leg which meant that they were probably still dating. However, I was less excited to see Cho Chang and a few of her friends sitting in the front row. It seemed she was eagerly staring at Harry, trying to keep his attention. Rumour had it from Ginny that Harry had actually gotten the nerve to ask her out after the meeting was over. I figured Harry had been too scared to tell me himself since he knew how I felt about the Ravenclaw seeker.

"Here you go Hare," Fred came back and handed me my drink.

I shoved my hand into my pocket to give him some change but he put his hand up to stop me.

"My treat," he replied with a smile. "But not for the rest of you, cough it up!"

Everyone who was now seated gave Fred their exact change who then paid the barkeeper for the drinks. "Alright, so I guess we better get started," Hermione announced.

I could tell she was nervous but the energy from the others felt different. Many of them seemed excited to hear what Harry had to say but I could tell a few others were here for other reasons.

"Erm—so I guess I had the idea for Harry to teach us all some defensive spells. I mean, we aren't really learning them properly in school so erm—I thought it would be a good idea to take matters into our own hands," Hermione explained.

"But what about our OWLs?" someone asked who was undoubtedly in their fifth year.

"Yes, well those are important too, but we also need to be able to defend ourselves… because Lord Voldemort is back," Hermione answered even more nervously.

I surveyed the room again and watched as everyone reacted. Many of the student squealed at the mention of the dark wizard's name. I cast my gaze over to Alicia who I heard shriek and she clenched her hands in her lap. I knew she had been having a difficult time wanting to believe in everything, but I knew she was more scared than ignorant. She was looking at Hermione like the bushy haired girl was confirming her worst fears.

"Who says he's actually back?" someone from the middle called out.

I held my breath as I narrowed my gaze to focus onto the boy wearing yellow robes. I recognized him from some of the parties I had been to with Cedric but I was never formally introduced.

"Dumbledore says he's back based on his account, but where's the proof?" the boy continued rather aggressively.

I knew he must be staring at Harry who put his hand up to cut in from Hermione explaining.

"Dumbledore told you all what happened last year, and that's all I'm going to say about it. I didn't agree to come here to explain in detail all of what happened," Harry replied firmly.

"So, we're just supposed to believe whatever you say while the Minister himself refutes your claim? All we know is that Cedric Diggory died last year," he continued.

"Zacharias, that's enough," I moved my gaze over to see that it was Liam telling him off.

My fists were clenched tight at my sides and I realised I hadn't taken a breath in a while since my vision was starting to blur. I could also tell Harry was losing his patience as this boy tried goading him into recounting the events of Cedric's murder. I knew Harry wasn't going to talk about it, but I couldn't take hearing Cedric's death mentioned so casually. When I pushed back my chair to stand up, the legs scratched the uneven flooring, causing the group to turn their focus towards me. Many of them looked nervous now that I was going to say something when most of them could only stomach whispering about me behind my back.

"If all you want are scary ghost stories about your housemate's murder, then you really don't deserve to be here or talk about him like his memory doesn't matter. Why the hell does it bloody well matter how he died when in the end Cedric was murdered by Voldemort just like Dumbledore says," I noticed many people flinch at my use of Voldemort's name, even seeing Fred grimace beside me.

I knew people were looking at me like a wounded animal, including Harry who wouldn't meet my gaze, or Liam who was turned away altogether.

"So, we're not here to discuss a student being murdered, and if you are then leave. But, if you want to learn how to properly defend yourself like the Ministry is refusing to do, then shut up and listen," I finished before sitting back down.

I watched the boy scoff and turn back around to face Harry, but no one said a word or refuted my speech.

"So, erm—like I was saying, I think we should set up some meetings so we can practice defense properly," Hermione started speaking again, trying to cut the tension that was left in the room.

Everyone seemed more on board with the idea now that I had put them all off from rehashing the events of Cedric's death. Many of the students started asking Harry which spells he could actually perform. Cho even boasted about all the spells he used during the tournament last year and I watched as Harry locked eyes with her in surprise.

"Alright, so we agree that we want Harry to teach us, so now we have to think of a meeting area," Hermione continued to keep everyone on track.

"Wait, we have to make sure the meetings don't clash with quidditch practice," Angelina piped in.

Others from the different teams agreed but Hermione shook her head irritably. "Yes, we will make sure we find a suitable date, but we are talking about learning spells to help defend ourselves against Voldemort."

"We'll think of a meeting spot later, so if I can have everyone write down their names," Hermione concluded as she pulled out a piece of parchment.

At this, everyone paused from their previous excitement.

"Well, we can't be caught up in this… we're prefects," one boy said from Hufflepuff as well.

"It's not like I would leave this list lying around Ernie!" Hermione replied indignantly.

I continued to watch everyone's hesitation before I resolutely stood up and pushed through everyone to stand in front of Harry.

"Do you have a quill?" I asked Hermione as she looked at me with an expression of gratitude. "Here you go!" she replied.

I took it from her and signed my name before turning around to pass it on to someone else. I figured I would need to physically go up to someone to pass it on, but Fred was standing readily behind me. After that everyone who had showed up made a line to sign their name until the loud mouthed boy was the last one.

"Alright, we'll be in touch. And make sure to keep this quiet!" Hermione warned as everyone nodded and headed out to enjoy the remainder of their Hogsmeade visit.

"Well, that went pretty well," Fred said, standing beside me as I watched the last of the students filter out.

"That one kid is a bloody piece of work," George added with chagrin.

"Yea, we'll see how it goes. I'm sure Hermione will organise it effectively," I said.

I noticed Cho waiting in the corner for Harry to finish up with Hermione and Ron. I couldn't stop the dread I felt at seeing her waiting to go out on a date with my brother but figured he had put up with a lot more when I dated Cedric.

"Hey Marnie?" I heard Alicia say to grab by attention.

I looked over at her, noticing the frown evident on her face.

"I'm sorry, for being so quick to dismiss what happened to Cedric and everything. I always believed you, but I didn't want to face it. But, I know you and Harry wouldn't lie, so I apologise," she said quietly.

I smiled before walking over and put my hand on her shoulder.

"I don't want to be right either Leesh, but I can't go around pretending Cedric wasn't murdered," I replied.

She nodded and hugged me. I let her and felt relieved that she had finally come around.

"Another round of butter beers at The Three Broomsticks?" Fred asked to lighten the mood.

Alicia pulled back and nodded, causing me to smile back at her. "Lee's buying!"

I smirked at Alicia as Lee called out after us that he was too broke to buy all of us a round. Ignoring Lee, our group took off running towards the regular pub and I almost forgot how sad this trip was making me. Last time I was here was on a date with Cedric and now I had just defended his murder against a loud-mouthed idiot who was a Hufflepuff no less.

When the seven of us stormed into The Three Broomsticks, Fred dragged me to go find a table while the rest of them fought over who was buying.

"Hare, you okay?" Fred asked once we secured a large enough table.

"Is it alright if I say no?" I replied honestly.

Fred moved over the bench until he was right beside me. I could feel the side of his leg lightly brushing mine as he leaned in closer.

"I would always rather an honest answer Hare. And just know, that George and I—no this time I'm only speaking for myself. Hare, I want to be there. I know I can't change how you're feeling but I can be here for you so you're not alone," Fred said as if he was pleading for my permission to allow him to help me.

I reached out my hand and gently folded it over the top of his. "What else could I expect from my sworn protector?"

Fred only smiled and moved so my hand was now folded in his. Again, I didn't know how to react to Fred and knew that his behaviour was changing towards me. All I knew was that feeling Fred's hand against mind grounded me more than anything else and that was all I wanted right now. I didn't want to be the pitiable student who was unlucky enough to have been dating Hogwart's dead champion. Of course I still loved Cedric but carrying around my broken heart was heavy enough without dealing with all the fallout. Fred was offering me a lifeline and I was selfish enough to take it, or else continue thinking about death and how I should have been the dead champion instead.


	64. Anti-Umbridge League

"I can't believe her! Slytherin got their team instated no problem! What does she have to think about anyway, it's quidditch for Merlin sake," Angelina scathed.

I didn't dare answer Angelina's question while the others looked shattered that their last quidditch year might be revoked under Umbridge's new decree as High Inquisitor.

Harry and his friends had also joined in the sulking party, discreetly handing me a note that said Same time same place on it. I knew it meant that Sirius would be appearing in the fireplace again tonight so I stuffed the note in my bag. The only ones who didn't seem very perplexed were the twins and Lee who were cavalierly demonstrating their new Skiving Snackbox called the Puking Pastille. Of course, that meant they were repetitively taking turns vomiting into a bucket before Lee whisked it away with a vanishing spell. For this particular demonstration, I wasn't too keen on volunteering my time.

"Can't you make them stop Marnie?" Katie asked, grimacing in disgust as George heartily threw up into a bucket behind her.

"It's actually pretty impressive what they've come up with," Alicia said in defense.

"Yes, well I'm trying to finish all this NEWT homework for Transfiguration and I can't concentrate when they keep taking turns vomiting. It's disgusting!" Katie replied repulsively.

"Well, we should all be busy with practice, so I guess let them have their fun," Angelina ordered, much like a captain instructing her teammates.

"Look Marnie, we made 26 galleons already!" George came over, beaming after most of the students had gone to bed.

"That's great," I replied, setting my book down to see him rattling a wooden box full of coins.

"We want to start operations on the Fainting Fancies, will you help us with those later on?" he asked.

"Yea, as long as I'm not bleeding, vomiting or oozing, I'll help you with it," I replied.

George smiled in return before he smugly rattled his box for Hermione to see. I rolled my eyes, watching as both twins finally left the common room. I figured it was almost midnight by this point and turned my attention towards the fireplace. Unsurprisingly, Sirius had already appeared and was smiling back at me.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed excitedly as he bolted towards the fireplace to kneel in front of it.

I followed after Hermione and Ron and beamed at him, seeing that he looked less annoyed than last time.

Sirius asked how things were going now with Umbridge as High Inquisitor. Harry and Ron both frowned, explaining that quidditch might be cancelled if their team didn't get reinstated.

"And what about secret Defense Against the Dark Arts Groups?" Sirius asked smugly.

"How do you know about that?" Harry asked incredulously.

"We're still being followed?" I asked knowingly.

Sirius nodded. "Mundungus was watching you in disguise. He's been dressing up a lot as a woman lately to go unnoticed."

Harry looked uneasy at Sirius, probably contemplating how careful we would need to be in the future if we were going to carry out this secret club.

"And I also have a message for you Ron from your mother. She says that under no circumstance should you be involved with any illegal club so not to ruin your future. She also wanted me to pass along a similar message to you three as well," Sirius eyed Harry, Hermione and myself but I could see a spark which gave away his true feelings on the matter. "Although, she knows she is not your guardian and has no authority on your decisions."

"And what about your authority? And dad and Remus'?" I asked, knowing the three men would all definitely have an opinion about mine and Harry's involvement.

"Well, Joss is worried like always, but he surprisingly doesn't object as resolutely as Molly. Remus hasn't said a word which I know means he doesn't object and is just trying to keep the peace. As for me, I couldn't be prouder. Harry and Marnie, taking things into your own hands to go against the Ministry. Sounds a lot like something James and Lena would have done. Although Lena was a prefect herself, she definitely wouldn't have let a hag like Umbridge stop her," I could see the confidence in Sirius' eyes that made me smile.

Dad always liked to make my mother out to be a gentle soul, always caring and doting which I never questioned. But, part of me wondered if when she was at school with Sirius that she showed more of a bolder side.

"What if we get expelled?" Hermione asked.

"Better that than remain defenseless when there's someone on the outside who is planning on killing us all," Sirius said more grimly. "So, how are you organising the whole thing?" Sirius asked with keen interest.

It made me happy to see how seemingly proud Sirius was of us to be doing something despite how reckless our parents seemed to find it.

"Well, we don't know where to practice yet," Ron replied.

"How about the Shrieking Shack?" Sirius proposed.

"That might work," Ron replied eagerly but Hermione shook her head.

"There's no way we could sneak almost thirty students in there undetected," she replied.

"Hmm, well I'll think about it some more," Sirius said.

I knew there were few others who knew the Hogwarts grounds like Sirius so I had faith that he might be able to come up with something. However, before any of us could say another word we all watched as a hand appeared in the fire and swiped where Sirius' head had been only moments ago. Thankfully he had seen it coming and popped out of the fire before the person could grab onto him. I could tell the hand belonged to Umbridge based on its aged appearance and pink cuff from her robes. The four of us sat there in shock, relieved that Sirius hadn't been caught. Knowing this though, after the initial shock wore off, Hermione ordered us up to bed so we wouldn't be caught.

Once I was upstairs, I quickly but quietly got ready and climbed into my bed, so not to wake the girls if they were asked when I came to bed. I didn't want to ask them to lie, but I also didn't even want them knowing how late I came to bed to avoid suspicion. I thought fearfully of how Sirius had almost been caught, which would surely earn him a one-way ticket to Azkaban where Fudge would smugly put all the blame of the recent disappearances on him. The Death Eaters, if they were smart, would even halt their plans for a few months to avoid further suspicion which would cement the Minister's opinion of Sirius.

The next morning after class most of the Gryffindors found a classroom to study in while it was pouring outside. Peeves was taking advantage of the rainy day by wreaking havoc and dropping ink balls down on people.

Harry, Hermione and Ron were also sitting a little ways away. They caught my attention when I heard Hermione mention Snuffles. I looked over and saw Hermione appearing miserable while Harry looked like he was fuming.

"I just think that Snuffles is living vicariously through you and Marnie. I mean, he brings up James and Lena whenever we talk to him," Hermione said.

At the mention of my mother I stood up, narrowly dodging an ink ball before I stood beside where Hermione was sitting. Ron looked upset but Harry looked like he was about to explode.

"Hermione, I know you're concerned about how Snuffles has been acting lately, but maybe don't go retracting your own idea now that he agrees with you," I said rather harshly.

I know I was always seen as the voice of reason whenever the twins or Harry were acting up, but my own patience was pretty thin these days with everything else going on.

"Marnie, I don't mean to offend anyone," Hermione said quietly, looking like she was struggling with her own opinion.

"My mother put up with the same thing when she was in school. So, maybe instead of doubting our allies we can take by their example. I've seen my mother standing up to Death Eaters in my dreams and I'll do anything I can to follow in her footsteps," I replied evenly.

Harry nodded severely and Ron looked smug that I was telling off Hermione. I didn't want to upset her or belittle her own opinion, but I didn't see the sense in quitting now with our plans or to be setting off Harry any more than he already was these days. I knew she was used to being the voice of reason between the three of them but this time I thought that her own doubt was just getting in the way.

"Ugh!" I turned around to see that Peeves had emptied an entire ink bottle onto Katie's head so she was now throwing things at him.

"I better go. And don't worry Hermione. We all think your idea is a good one," I said more reassuringly before I went to Katie's aid.

"Why are you walking funny?" I asked the twins as I walked them to quidditch practice later that night.

"The Fever Fudge… it has some unfortunate side effects," Fred explained vaguely.

"It gave you a limp? Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey if it's having muscular or skeletal side effects," I said worriedly.

"Oh, don't worry Marnie, it's nothing severe like that… just a pain in the arse," George said irritably but then changed his expression to a grin like he said something funny.

"Are you sure?" I asked skeptically.

"Yea, it's just—" George was cut off by Fred from explaining.

"Hare doesn't need the gory details!" he said rather harshly. "Anyways, are you sure you don't want to watch the practice?"

We were now at the doorway that would lead the twins down to the pitch.

"In that rain? I think I'll pass," I said.

It was pouring outside and I felt bad that all my friends would have to practice in this type of weather.

"Wait up for us?" Fred asked.

"Of course," I replied before waving them off.

The minute they stepped foot outside they were already soaked. I knew they would be pretty miserable by the time they all came back so I decided I would bring them all some hot chocolate from the kitchens. I then walked towards the kitchens instead of the common room where I figured I would sit in quiet before meeting them all back upstairs. When I made my way down and entered through the fruit portrait, I was soon met by a familiar voice.

"Miss Marnee!" Posy exclaimed, running towards me merrily.

"Hi Posy, how are you?" I asked, causing her to beam even more.

"Miss Marnee is always so polite for Posy. Posy is most happy when Miss Marnee comes to visit. Can I bring you anything to eat Miss Marnee?" the house elf asked happily.

"Maybe some pumpkin juice? And do you have any more of that pie from supper?" I asked, remembering how delicious it was.

"Yes! Posy will bring a piece right away!" Posy then jetted off so I went to the small table and sat down in the corner.

"Marnie O'Hara!" another voice greeted as I looked up from the book I had just pulled out of my rucksack.

"Dobby!" I greeted the house elf who was adorned with several scarves around his neck.

"Are those all the scarves Hermione has been making?" I asked.

"Yes! They are all quite warm! None of the other house elves will clean the Gryffindor common room, but Dobby does not mind. Dobby is always hoping to see Miss Marnie's brother Harry Potter," Dobby beamed.

"Erm—Dobby, you shouldn't have to do all that work yourself. And I'll let Harry know that you would like to see him," I replied.

Dobby ignored what I said about all the cleaning and beamed instead that I would talk to Harry for him. Posy then returned with a platter of juice, tea and pie, shooing Dobby away in the process.

"You know Posy, Dobby is never a bother to me," I said, noticing that Posy always steered him away.

I noticed Posy frown but she didn't say anything more. "Posy, you know that you are a very good friend."

I realised that maybe Posy felt jealous that I gave Dobby the same amount of attention when she seemed to always push past the others elves whenever the twins and I came to the kitchen and doted on us.

Posy's eyes widened and her expression turned into a beaming smile.

"Miss. Marnee thinks that Posy is a very good friend," Posy recited back slowly as if in disbelief.

"Of course Posy. You are the very first elf I ever met and you are always so nice to me. I always feel so welcome when you greet me," I paused before pulling some pieces of paper out of my rucksack. "Would you like another picture?"

I fanned out three drawings I had done recently that I worked on whenever I didn't want to do homework.

"Posy can pick one?" she asked excitedly.

"Whichever one you would like. You can also take more than one," I offered.

Posy studied each one closely. The first was a drawing of a crup I had drawn from learning all about them in Care of Magical Creatures. The second one was of some venus flytraps growing in the greenhouse. The last one featured a drawing of a phoenix, something that I started during the summer at Grimmauld place because of the Order.

"Can Posy have this one?" she asked, pointing to the third picture.

"Of course," I replied gently, watching Posy carefully pick up the parchment and then scurry off to probably put it under her pillow.

I stayed in the kitchens for over an hour before I figured Angelina would have finally called it a night with practice. I asked Posy if I could borrow the tray she had brought my snacks on and to fill it with mugs of hot chocolate. She obliged happily, telling me not to worry about bringing it back since Dobby could do it this evening on his rounds. I smiled and thanked her before carefully making my way to the common room.

"Are those for us?" Ron asked, eyeing the tray happily as I entered.

I nodded, causing the mud caked team to hurry over and grab a mug. There were a few left over which meant Hermione, Neville and Lee could also grab a cup. I refused since I had already gotten my fill down in the kitchen.

"You are a saint," George said, folding both of his hands around the steaming cup.

"Yea, thanks a lot!" Fred added.

"So, how did practice go?" I asked, watching as their eyes sank.

Angelina looked like she was stressed enough to grow gray hairs so I dropped the subject.

"I think I'm going to call it an early night. Oh, Harry," I called, grabbing my brother's attention. "Dobby says hi and wanted you to know that he's been cleaning the Gryffindor common room at night and has been hoping to run into you."

Harry smiled back and nodded in acknowledgement. Then I turned and headed upstairs, followed soon by the girls who took turns showering and then collapsing onto their beds in exhaustion.

"Lena?" I looked up to see my father sitting in his usual spot at our table.

"Yes dear?" my mother responded back with a smile.

I could tell this must have been right after my parents had gotten married since my father looked much like he did in their wedding picture on the mantle.

"I'm only going to ask this once and I already know the answer, but I know I have to say it to try," my father said.

He looked like he was struggling with whatever he wanted to say because the gleam in his eyes turned to worry. I continued looking at my father expectantly through my mother's eyes as she waited for him to speak again.

"Please don't join the Order," he said simply but with desperation in his eyes.

My mother didn't change her position or outwardly argue like I had when he forbade me from joining.

"Joss, this is something I have to do. I know we just got married and Marnie is still a baby, but if I don't fight then how can I expect to live in a peaceful world when You Know Who is finally destroyed," my mother replied evenly.

I could hear the conviction in her voice which I knew my father had been expecting. He didn't argue against her but looked sad and conflicted. I knew he wanted to say more but was interrupted by the sounds of my waking cries from upstairs. My mother went to stand up but my father put up his hand.

"I'll get her," was all he said before he left the kitchen and started walking up the staircase.

I woke up feeling more determined to start the Defense club and fight against the Ministry. I didn't care about Umbridge and her authoritarian rules. I knew she was dangerous and didn't care, just like my mother had fought for what she believed in. She entered the war with certainty and now I felt that same sureness running through me.

I threw myself out of bed and quickly showered. Staring in the mirror to brush my hair after I was dressed, I thought about how much I really did look like my mother now that I was getting older. Once I was ready I went downstairs and saw Harry looking rather determined himself.

"We found a place to practice," he said eagerly but in a lowered voice.

Now we knew that anyone could be listening.

"Spread the word," he said and I nodded.

He knew I would tell the rest of the quidditch team and Lee. I didn't waste any time and ran up the stairs to wake up the girls. Despite their evil glares from me waking them up, they quickly changed their tune once I told them Harry's message. I then bolted down the stairs and ran up the boy's staircase before pausing at the door. It was a possibility that they were already up and moving around but I wanted to tell them right away. Instead of barging in, I decided to knock loudly. I heard some stirring before someone walked towards the door and opened it.

Fred answered, obviously having been woken up by my knocking. "Hare, why didn't you just come in like always?"

I blushed, feeling that it might be odd how comfortable Fred was with me entering their room at all hours of the day and night.

"Well, I didn't want to see anything I wasn't supposed to since it is morning time," I replied.

Fred looked behind him and nodded. "George is in the shower and Lee is still sleeping. Come on in, I'll tell George not to come out without his clothes."

Fred led me inside and disappeared into the lavatory to presumably talk to George. It seemed Kenneth was probably already down at breakfast which I felt relieved about. I didn't even know if he knew I spent some nights in here or not. Fred came out a moment later and crawled back into his bed. I was sitting up on his pillow but Fred pulled me back down so that he had his arm wrapped around me and pulled the covers over top of us.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure of having you barge in here this morning?" Fred asked, still sounding groggy.

"I didn't barge! That was the whole reason I knocked," I said defensively but Fred only shrugged. "And the reason I came up here was to tell you lot that Harry found a place for us to practice!"

Fred's eyes opened again and smiled back at me excitedly. "Does that mean we're having our first official meeting?"

"Yea, Harry's going to pass the word. I think it's tonight," I replied gleefully.

"It's nice to see you this happy about something," Fred said, throwing me off guard a bit.

I realised that having a purpose like this and believing in what I was doing filled me with more energy than I had felt in a while.

The next thing I realised was that Lee was now getting out of bed wearing nothing but his boxers. My face turned red from embarrassment and Fred looked over disapprovingly. He then threw the covers over my face and reprimanded Lee to put some clothes on.

"Hey, what happened to the no girls rule Fred! You know, Marnie is always in here and I think it's only right then that I can invite Katie up here," he said indignantly.

This only caused me to laugh from under the blankets while Fred scoffed. "Good luck with that. But yes, if Katie agrees she can spend time up here. But keep it PG Jordan!"

"Hey, Katie!" Lee called out on our way to breakfast.

"Good morning Lee," Katie greeted from her seat beside Alicia.

"So, did you want to spend the night or something?" Lee went ahead with his usual bluntness.

I panned before shaking my head and sitting down beside Angelina.

"Did he just ask that in front of all of us?" Angelina asked looking remorseful for Katie.

Alicia scooted over, wanting to give Katie some space before she completely exploded on Lee.

"Zero tact that one. How is it that Katie has put up with him this long?" Fred asked, scooping himself a hearty bowl of breakfast.

Although we were all cringing at the situation unfolding in front of us, this didn't seem to ruin either of the twin's appetite.

"How dare you ask me something like that in front of all our mates," Katie seethed at Lee who was finally realising how much he just messed up.

"Wait! Katie, I didn't mean tha—" Katie cut him off as she pushed back her bowl and stomped off towards the exit.

Once she was out of earshot from Lee's stuttering apologies she turned around and glared at us for leaving her alone.

"Hhh, that's my cue," I said, only having eaten one bite of my porridge.

"You just cost me my breakfast Lee," I said irritably at him.

"Just—please make sure I still have a girlfriend after this," Lee pleaded.

"When did I become the appointed clean-up crew for this group?" I asked but the twins only laughed.

I then turned and trudged along after the girls who were huddled on either side of Katie, most likely agreeing with her at how much of a git her boyfriend was being. Katie and Lee hadn't really ever given us a concrete definition for their relationship, but to us they were together. It was obvious that Lee really cared about her in his own way, and that Katie somehow could put up with it, most of the time. I wasn't too worried that they wouldn't make up, especially since Lee realised how much of a fool he had just made of himself. But it really put a damper on my morning so I only hoped that Harry's plan would succeed and we would officially start our club tonight.

"This was a broom cupboard last time we used it," Fred said as we approached the given location that night for Harry's meeting.

"Well, I'm sure Harry figured out something better than a broom cupboard," I replied.

"Marnie! We aren't speaking to them!" Katie hollered back at me.

I sighed before jogging to catch up with her and the other two girls who were several paces in front of the boys. The twins were walking together with Lee sulking behind them.

"Hey, it's not like Fred got kicked out of the group when we had our row last year," I replied once I reached the girls.

I looked back and saw that Fred must have heard me since he was frowning after me now.

"Yea, well, I need you to be on my side for a little longer before I forgive the idiot," Katie mumbled, not wanting Lee to hear her.

"You're really going to forgive him?" Alicia asked disbelievingly.

"Yea, well Marnie explained what he meant by it since she was with the guys this morning. I figure he didn't mean anything over PG by it, but I'm still too annoyed to make up yet," Katie explained.

"Fair enough. Make him sweat it out a bit," Angelina agreed.

"You know, you two are pretty well-suited for each other if you can understand and forgive him this easily," I observed, causing her scowl to drop.

"Like you and Fred?" Katie replied.

Angelina and Alicia gasped but Katie kept my gaze with an even look.

"Me and Fred?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable that this topic seemed to always come up.

"Hey, I know things with Cedric ended in the absolute worst way, but we all saw how Fred was last year. While you two were ignoring each other all he did was stare after you and look all gloomy," Katie explained candidly.

"Katie, this isn't the best time to talk about this," Alicia frowned.

"It's never a good time, but I just want to say my piece. I'm on your side Marnie, so please don't think I'm not. If you don't want to date that's fine, no one here is going to blame you. But, you have to realise how Fred feels about you and always has," Katie finished in a quieter voice before we arrived inside the secret room.

I almost wasn't taken by the amazement of the room as my mind went into overdrive about what Katie just told me. The truth was that I did know Fred liked me, George nearly told me as much last year at the Yule Ball. Fred also wasn't my best friend for nothing, so I knew how to read him. I knew he had changed around me, that crawling into bed with him when I had a nightmare meant more to him than it might have when we were younger. Not that I thought he was perverted or anything, but me going to him when I needed something had a lot of meaning in itself. Since I stopped just inside the doorway, the others passed me before they realised I was rooted in place. Of course, Fred was the first one to turn around and raised his eyebrow like a question. I snapped myself out of it since I really didn't think I could face him when my own ignorance had just been lifted. I hadn't really considered Fred's feelings up until now, which meant I certainly hadn't considered my own.

I noticed Neville and Luna standing further inside the room so I went over to join them. Fred seemed to take this as a good thing since he stopped approaching me and went back to talk to George and Lee.

"Hey Marnie, your aura is very purple today," Luna said in greeting.

"What does purple mean?" Neville asked in interest.

"Hmm, I think it means you haven't eaten enough soup this month," Luna replied dreamily.

"I'll make sure to eat more at lunch and dinner," I said absentmindedly.

"This place is pretty amazing, don't you think Marnie?" Neville asked.

"Yea, what is this place exactly?" I asked, realising I had never seen it in all seven years I had gone adventuring with the twins.

"I think Harry called it the Room of Requirement," Neville answered.

I nodded, looking around to see that the room was amply stocked with dark magic detectors, books on defensive spells and other materials we might need for training.

"Alright everyone, it looks like we're all here. I think the first thing's first is to elect a leader," Hermione started.

"Harry should be leader!" I heard Cho pipe up eagerly.

As per Ginny, my source on all Gryffindor gossip, Harry seemed pretty happy after his Hogsmeade date with Cho. I hadn't seen the two of them really interact since then, but I had seen them walking in the corridors together between classes.

"Yes, but let's make it official so we'll have a vote. Everyone in favour of Harry being leader?" Hermione asked.

Everyone in the room raised their hand, although I noticed that loud-mouth Zacharias did so begrudgingly.

"Alright, and I think we also need a name," Hermione continued once she counted all of the hands in the air.

"Oh, what about the Anti-Umbridge League?" Angelina asked.

I knew she was still feeling bitter towards Umbridge about the whole quidditch reinstatement delay. Plus, there was everyone's overall dislike for the professor who was determined to spout Ministry propaganda nonsense.

"What about the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?" Fred asked eagerly.

Hermione seemed displeased by Fred's suggestion, maybe because his father did still work for the Ministry.

"What about Defense Association, or DA for short?" Cho suggested.

I frowned at any idea coming from her, but agreed with most others that DA was catchy.

"Yea, but how about we make DA stand for Dumbledore's Army?" Ginny asked, sounding very cunning as she said it.

There was an excited murmur of agreeance before Hermione nodded and wrote down the name onto the top of the parchment we had all signed at the Hog's Head.

"Alright, now that that's settled. I guess we should begin."

Hermione turned towards Harry and so did everyone's gazes.

"Right, how about we start with Expelliarmus?" Harry suggested.

"Really, the Disarming spell?" the Smith kid remarked snidely towards Harry.

"It's the spell I used against him last June. So, if you don't want to do it then you can leave," Harry replied evenly.

The room went pin drop silent before everyone started pairing off.

"Let's be partners Neville," I offered, not wanting Fred to pick me since my reeling thoughts were returning.

"Really?" Neville asked, self-doubting that I would want to choose him as my partner.

"Of course Neville, show me what you've got," I said encouragingly.

"Alright, but I haven't actually been able to do this spell before," he admitted nervously.

"It's alright, that's why we're practicing," I replied with a smile.

Neville smiled nervously before taking his stance. I let him make the first attempt but my wand only wobbled in my hand. Neville looked timid as I changed my stance.

"Expelliarmus!" I said, moving my wand and watching Neville's leave his hands.

As soon as I grasped it, I walked over to hand it back to him. Neville was still bashful but I nodded at him encouragingly before returning to my spot. I looked around the room and noticed that Neville wasn't the only one having difficulties with the spell despite it being one of the basics like that idiot Hufflepuff pointed out. My gaze landed on Fred who was aiming his wand towards the idiot in question and disarmed him before he could try disarming his partner. I wanted to see how the scenario played out, but I felt my own wand leaving my hand. I looked over to see Neville proudly lifting it over his head.

"I did it Marnie! I've never done it before, but I really got your wand away from you!" he sounded truly proud of himself so I smiled back.

"That's great Neville! Let's go again," I let him perform the spell a few more times and each time he was successful in prying the wand out of my grip.

"You've really gotten it Neville," I praised him, knowing he could always use some more confidence in himself.

"You go Marnie," he replied more happily now that he had the hang of it.

I nodded before casting the spell without verbally saying the incantation. I figured this was a good opportunity to practice and was successful in casting Neville's wand away from him.

"You used a nonverbal spell!" Neville said in awe.

"Yea, you'll start learning those this year. You can try it too, perform the same wand movement and really concentrate on what you want to happen," I instructed.

Neville looked less sure of himself and began waving his wand around erratically.

"Alright," Harry interrupted before Neville could try the nonverbal spell again.

"This is a good start but there's room for improvement. We have to wrap it up tonight, so this time next week?" Harry asked.

Some people objected since they wanted to meet sooner, but with three different quidditch team schedules to consider Harry agreed to next Wednesday. I approached Harry as he instructed people to leave in pairs while checking the Marauder's Map to make sure the coast was clear.

"So, how was your first hand at teaching?" I asked.

"Yea, it's not as bad as I thought," Harry admitted.

"That Zacharias guy is still a git," Ron added from beside Harry.

"Our turn Hare," Fred called out and I realised the rest of our friends had already been directed to leave by Harry.

"Erm—right," I replied, knowing it would be too suspicious if I refused him.

Harry gave me a questioning look but I smiled back and joined Fred as we got the all clear.

"So, is Katie going to forgive Lee?" Fred asked on our way back.

"Yea it seems that way," I replied.

"Good, he's been a whining mess all day," Fred complained.

Katie's words came flooding back into my head and I realised that I had to say something if I wanted to avoid feeling uneasy every time I was around Fred.

"Fred, were you gloomy last year?" I asked, deciding to use the same word as Katie.

"That's an odd choice of wording, but yea, last year was a mess," Fred replied more seriously.

"Is it because you liked me?" I asked straight to the point.

"Is this because of something Katie said?" Fred asked, sounding impatient.

"Well, yea, but—" Fred sighed, causing me to pause in what else I was going to stay.

"Can we talk about this later?" Fred asked, giving the Fat Lady the password since we had arrived at the common room.

"Erm—sure," I replied, feeling uneasy that I had been too direct.

I then watched as Fred retreated straight for the boy's staircase and disappeared up them. My chest tightened and I immediately regretted my direct approach. I didn't want a reoccurrence of last year and hadn't mean to offend Fred. I had only wanted to avoid any misunderstanding but it seems maybe I made things worse. Rather dejectedly I made my way up to my own dormitory and flopped onto my bed, worried I might lose Fred again when I felt I needed him most.


	65. Acceptance

The next morning I woke up, not having slept very well. After tossing and turning I decided to get up and work on my Herbology homework before breakfast. I silently thanked Dobby once I was downstairs for lighting the fire. I curled up with a blanket and took my textbook out to read about the correct process for collecting Hungarian Hemlock which grew in dark forests. The plant tended to emit a luminescent shine which would draw lost travellers in before emitting a toxic perfume. Their perfume was meant to render the traveller unconscious before the hemlock would quickly expand itself around the human body and leech out all its energy. There are reported instances of travellers returning days later looking decades older because of the parasitic qualities of the plant.

"Hare?" Fred asked, bringing me to look at him over my Herbology book.

I was surprised to hear him talking to me after how he left things last night.

"Yes Fred?" I replied, worried about what he was going to say and bracing myself for the worst case scenario.

"Will you go on a date with me?" he asked rather directly.

My eyes quickly widened as I stared at him in shock.

"What?" I replied, thinking I must have heard him wrong.

"A date. Do you want to go on a date with me?" he repeated with the same amount of surety.

"Umm…." Was all I could muster out of my whirling mind.

But this only made Fred smile. "Tomorrow night, I'll meet you in the common room."

Then, he got up and retreated over to where George and Lee looked like they were waiting for him to go down to breakfast.

"Marnie?" I heard my name being called again.

I hesitantly turned away from watching Fred exit the common room to see all three of the girls staring at me intently.

"Did Fred Weasley just ask you on a date?" Angelina asked, knowing she was the one who had gotten my attention in the first place.

"I—think so," I replied uneasily, feeling my stomach filling with knots.

"Wow Katie, your tactlessness might have worked after all," Alicia beamed as all three of them came up to me and pulled me unceremoniously off the couch.

The blanket I had wrapped myself up in fell to the floor along with my textbook. I had to quickly collect my things as the girls stood there impatiently, wanting to follow Fred to analyse his behaviour.

"I can't believe he finally worked up the nerve," Katie said, seeming pleased with this turn of events.

"His delivery could have been better, but who's complaining after he waited this long!" Angelina added sounding awfully giddy compared to her tense manner over the past few months because of quidditch. "Wait, did you actually say yes to him?"

"I didn't give him an answer at all," I admitted, slowly realising the situation that was unfolding.

"Are—are you going to show up tomorrow?" Alicia asked, sounding more nervous now.

"Well, I guess the least I can do is hear him out," I replied, feeling even more uneasy than I was letting on.

"That's all we can ask for," Katie exclaimed excitedly.

"Why are you all so excited about this?" I asked, feeling their enthusiasm was putting even more pressure on the situation.

"Marnie, you're two of our best mates, and really… we've been waiting for this for a long time," Angelina admitted with a wide grin.

We were making our way towards the Great Hall for breakfast and I realised as we entered that I had lost all of my appetite.

"Just, try not to make such a big deal over it," I pleaded as Fred and the others came into view.

"Alright Marn," Angelina agreed, looking at me with more concern.

The truth was that I didn't know how I felt about Fred and certainly didn't want our group's friendship hanging in the balance. Fred's proposal this morning completely caught me off guard since I had been scared he was angry with me. Instead, he went for a completely alternative approach and I was left feeling overwhelmed. I didn't want to outright reject him since I felt things wouldn't go back to normal if I did. Plus, I was the one who started all of this yesterday when I brought it up. What had I really wanted out of that conversation anyways? George smiled down the table at me as I sat farthest away from Fred as I could. I offered my own meek smile before grabbing onto a discarded newspaper and burying my head behind it.

"Good morning everyone!" Professor Sprout announced as she entered the greenhouse.

"Good morning Professor," everyone in our NEWT class recited back.

"Hem hem," a familiar voice sounded from the back of the classroom and I tensed my shoulders at the sound.

"Class, it seems Professor Umbridge will be joining our class today. Please do not let her presence hamper your attention since today's lesson requires your utmost care," Professor Sprout explained.

I smiled that Professor Sprout didn't seem phased by Umbridge's appearance and wasn't making any exceptions for her evaluation.

"Are we finally working with the Hungarian Hemlock today?" a Ravenclaw student named Roger Davies asked.

"Right you are Davies! Now, everyone must put on their gloves and masks and be sure they're on tight. You do not want to feel the effects of the hemlock's perfume," Professor Sprout instructed before we all walked over to the shelves and grabbed our equipment.

Once I arrived back at my workstation I saw that Professor Sprout was handing Umbridge a set as well but Umbridge didn't seem too keen on putting the well-worn mask over her face.

"Alright, so each will open the container in front of you and will see a single hemlock plant inside. Wait until it glows before clipping off the leaves and putting it in your mortar to crush into a powder," Professor Sprout instructed.

Right away everyone eagerly opened their containers since we had been studying this plant for weeks without seeing it yet.

"Professor, is it really suitable for students to be performing such a dangerous task? Some hospitals don't even conduct this practice since it has the potential to go fatally wrong," I heard Umbridge say from behind her mask as she approached Sprout.

"Professor Umbridge, I must say I have trained all of these students since their first year and I am confident they are ready. The properties in these leaves have various important uses which is why I have so properly trained each and everyone in this class," Professor Sprout answered confidently before she moved away to start watching as each of us clipped back the glowing leaves.

"You will only need one or two leaves in your mortar or you risk making the powder too potent!" Professor Sprout warned us as she went around.

I already had two leaves in my mortar so I carefully sealed the container back up before grabbing onto my pestle to crush the leaves.

"Very good O'Hara make sure the leaves are evenly crushed until it's a fine powder. The leaves should lose all of their glowing properties so that's when you'll know it's done," I nodded at the professor before she moved on.

However, someone else was soon leaning over my shoulder to observe my work. I turned to see who it was only to realise that Umbridge was surveying each student's mortar and taking notes.

"Can I help you with something Professor?" I asked shortly, feeling on edge that she had been that close to me.

"Does Professor Sprout often have you performing such dangerous tasks?' she asked with a small smile that I found extremely irritating.

"We are in seventh year Professor, we have worked this far and gained an OWL to be able to work with more difficult herbs," I replied through gritted teeth.

"Hmm," was all she replied as she scratched her quill against her clipboard, taking extra notes.

"Professor Sprout is knowledgeable about real threats in the magical world and prepares us for them," I replied, feeling my irritation with her increasing.

"I think a snide remark like that calls for another detention Miss. O'Hara. I will see you tomorrow night," Umbridge said with a smile like she was offering me a candy.

"Tomorrow night, why not this evening?" I asked, remembering my promise to Fred.

"If you didn't want to cut into your social life then you should learn to hold your tongue. I have prior responsibilities to address tonight so I will see you tomorrow at 5pm in my office," she replied with an even bigger smile across her face.

I turned back to my mortar and started aggressively crushing the leaves with my pestle until I was absolutely sure there was no glowing residue.

"So erm—Fred?" I said that night at dinner.

"What's up Hare?" Fred smiled back at me with a dimpled grin.

"So, I have to rain check on tomorrow night. I sort of got a detention…" I explained, hoping he didn't think I had purposely gotten one to get out of our date.

"Merlin, and here I've been so well behaved today to make sure I wouldn't get my own detention. Well then, you leave me no choice. We'll have our date tonight," he continued smiling.

"Wh-what?" I stuttered, feeling my chest clench with anxiety. "Right now?"

"Yup!" he replied easily.

Before I could form my own opinion about what Fred was deciding for me he stood up and led me out of the Great Hall. I remained in overwhelmed silence all the way down to the kitchens.

"Oi, Posy!" Fred called out when we entered through the fruit portrait.

"Master Wheezy! Ooh Miss. Marnee!" Posy squealed as she came bustling over.

"Change of plans Posy, it's happening tonight. Is that alright?" he asked, giving Posy a grin to which she eagerly returned.

"Of course Mr. Wheezy! Posy will have your basket in a few minutes!" Posy giggled before running back into the kitchen.

"Our basket?" I asked, realising Fred must have had something all planned out.

"Just wait, why don't we have a seat in the meantime?" he asked before leading me over to our usual table in the corner.

"So, how was your day?" Fred asked casually once we had sat down.

"My day?" I asked, being caught off guard by his level of politeness.

"Yes, tell me about your day Hare," Fred replied with an easy grin.

"Well…" I started feeling excited that I could freely talk about Herbology when the rest of my friends were never that interested in hearing about it. "I crushed some Hungarian Hemlock, which is a really deadly plant! It's used for medicinal purposes to administer to people whose hearts are failing. It increases a person's heart rate among other healing properties. Professor Sprout was pleased with how I crushed the leaves on my first attempt," I smiled proudly.

"That's really great Hare, you always light up whenever you talk about Herbology, not that I can ever figure out why," Fred smiled.

I stuck my tongue out at him, feeling like always whenever we were just hanging out.

"So, how did you get a detention?" Fred inquired with a smirk.

"Erm—I mouthed off to Umbridge. She was evaluating Professor Sprout today," I confessed, feeling my annoyance for our Defense teacher resurfacing.

"Hare! She's the last person you should be getting a detention from!" Fred chastised. "But, I guess she is a foul old hag, so I can't really fault you for that one."

I smiled back at Fred just as Posy came towards us carrying a whicker picnic basket.

"Thanks a lot Posy!" Fred exclaimed.

"Anything for Mr. Wheezy! Posy hopes Miss. Maree enjoys her date!" Posy sang out excitedly.

"I'm sure she will," Fred smirked, watching as my face turned bright scarlet.

Ignoring my second bout of overwhelmed confusion, Fred took my hand and led me to the second destination he had planned out. I figured out where we were obviously going once we arrived at the staircase for the Astronomy Tower. My mouth felt dry as we ascended the stairs so I couldn't create any audible words to break the growing silence between us.

Fred headed for our usual spot overlooking the grounds before he sat down and started unpacking the basket that Posy had prepared.

"Well, sit down why don't you?" Fred said, turning his head to see that I was still awkwardly standing at the top of the staircase.

I nodded before slowly moving to go over and join him.

"Butter beer?" Fred asked, passing me a bottle from the depths of the basket.

My eyebrows raised like a question but Fred just laughed.

"I stowed a couple of them away last time George and I brought some crates over from Hogsmeade," Fred replied with a grin.

"How long have you been planning all this?" I asked sceptically, finally taking my seat on the other side of the basket.

Fred's cheeks started to turn pink, the first time this evening he was looking nervous whereas I'd been a nervous wreck ever since this morning.

"Well, I've sort of been thinking about asking you out since the start of school," Fred replied sounding rather embarrassed now.

"You've wanted to ask me on a date for that long?" I asked incredulously.

"Hare, you know it's been a lot longer than that," he replied more evenly.

My cheeks burned brighter than his appeared but he shrugged and smiled back at me.

"I don't want to make this anymore uncomfortable for you than it already is, so let's just enjoy ourselves like always," he said smiling, reminding me who I was sitting up here with and how we had done it hundreds of times in the last seven years.

"Alright, so what's in the basket?" I asked, peering in to see an array of pastries, including carrot cake.

"There isn't any real food in here!" I exclaimed, having expected dinner.

"I asked Posy for all the best dishes Hogwarts had to offer. Posy and I agreed that consisted of all desserts," Fred grinned.

I couldn't help laughing before greedily grabbing onto the dish of carrot cake and heartily digging into it with a fork.

"Jeez, if I knew I could get you to eat like that I would have been feeding you carrot cake this entire time!" Fred exclaimed, watching me devour my favourite dessert.

"Well, now you know it's my one weakness," I grinned back.

Fred smiled before picking up some apple pie from the basket. We then turned to look out at the view and I eventually started to enjoy the evening. After I easily finished my dessert I grabbed my bottle of butter beer and sipped it while we continued to sit in an easy silence. I had to admit that I was no feeling nervous and couldn't figure out why it felt so easy to be here with Fred.

"Fred, can I ask you a more serious question?" I asked, setting down my butter beer to turn my attention towards him.

"Alright, but you only get one," he replied cheekily, reminding me of when it had been us and George up here asking questions and telling secrets to get to know each other.

"Of course, I only have one anyway. So, what's different about today than any other time we hang out up here?" I asked nervously.

Admittedly, sitting up here with Fred didn't feel any different than all the other times we had hung out like this over the years.

"I guess there isn't. But, I am still considering it a date," he replied.

I concentrated on his face, trying to decipher how he was being so calm whereas I felt very unsure about the whole thing.

"Listen Hare, I didn't want to make a big deal about it since I know you aren't considering having another boyfriend. I told you that I wanted to be there for you, but I didn't want to let my chances go by without asking you out. I'm not going to force this to be romantic for you because the last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable. But, I have to admit finally that I've spent a lot of wasted time wanting to ask you out only for me to royally mess it up. I know this isn't the best time, but I think I'm running out of all my chances," Fred explained, showing the true unease he was feeling about the situation.

"I don't know how to reply to that just yet…" I replied, feeling his words whirl around in my already overcrowded mind.

Fred smiled back. "That's alright Hare, I'm choosing the worst possible time. I promise I won't act like a complete git, even if you turn me down. And I'll give you all the time you need to figure out what you want, but just know that I've given this considerable thought and if you agree to go out with me that I'll take it completely seriously. It's utterly selfish of me to ask, but it's you Hare… it's always been you and so I had to ask, in case there's even a small chance," Fred let his words linger between us but I couldn't think of anything to say in return.

"I wondered though… if I could kiss you?" Fred finally broke the silence, sounding bashful for maybe the first time I could ever remember.

I knew my cheeks were a deep crimson colour but I nodded, agreeing that I might want to give this a chance even if my mind couldn't land on its immediate answer. He leaned in, gradually inching towards my face until we were only inches apart. Our eyes were locked, but my embarrassment forced them closed while I waited for Fred to close the distance. A moment later, I felt his lips dusting against mine before they pressed more firmly. His lips were softer than I expected and continued to press against mine with a sensation that I could only compare to fire. His breath tasted like mint with ash and gun powder It was familiar and new all at the same time and had me leaning forward for more as he pulled away.

"Hare… you're crying," Fred whispered, bringing his finger up to wipe a fresh tear away.

"I am?" I asked in a quiet voice, not aware that I had started crying.

Fred's lips turned up but it wasn't convincing enough to be a smile. "Why don't we call it a night?"

"Alright," I replied, losing my ability to talk again through my overwhelming thoughts.

"Can I walk you back to the common room before I head back down to the kitchens?" Fred asked but I shook my head.

"It's ok Fred, I truly had a really great time tonight, so I don't want you to worry. I'll meet you back at the common room in a bit," I said reassuringly.

Fred studied me before smiling and nodded. He must have seen that I was genuine and believed that I would be alright on my own. I then waved him off as he brought the basket back down the stairs and out of the Astronomy Tower. Once he was out of sight more tears formed and I couldn't shake the feeling of overwhelming guilt for even contemplating moving on from Cedric this soon. I decided I wanted to feel closer to Cedric to sort out my own feelings and take a guess at what he would want for me. Eventually I found the statue of Boris The Bewildered and gave it the password before it allowed me entrance.

I sat along the edge of the Prefect bathroom's swimming pool, dipping my feet into the tepid water. When I heard the statue moving, I already knew I would be caught so I didn't turn around. I only hoped it wasn't Malfoy because I didn't have the energy to tell that little brat off.

"Marnie? What are you doing in the Prefect lavatory?" I heard Hermione ask as she approached from behind me.

I figured Ron would have been the best-case scenario, but Hermione was better than explaining myself to any other Prefect.

"What does this earn me, a week's worth of detentions?" I asked, deferring her question.

She paused. I knew she stopped walking and was standing just behind me. I didn't know what she was considering, maybe what punishment seemed fair for me breaking into the luxury lavatory. But, surprisingly, she didn't say a word and moved to sit beside me. Even more surprising was that she proceeded to take off her shoes and rolled up her stockings to place her feet in beside me.

"Cedric brought you here last year?" Hermione asked, although it wasn't really a question.

I didn't say anything, not really trusting myself to speak. I had broken in here to get answers, but I knew I just wanted to feel closer to Cedric. I didn't want to feel guilty about liking Fred when I still loved Cedric. Wouldn't I have still been with Cedric if he was alive?

"You know, there are no books that make you an expert on love, but I don't think you should feel guilty about liking Fred," Hermione said gently but I turned to her like she had just screamed at me.

Her words shook me since I didn't realise how obvious I was being. I hadn't told anyone about going on a date with Fred aside from the girls eavesdropping this morning.

"Harry heard from Ron who heard from George that Fred finally asked you out. So, that means that Harry has been sulking and irritable but that's nothing new lately," Hermione admitted.

"Oh," I replied, still feeling overwhelmed.

"Hey, I know I'm not Angelina or George, but I have known you for five years and I am your brother's friend. I do feel I know you well enough to say that it's pretty obvious how you and Fred feel about each other. It was obvious before you went out with Cedric and it was the reason Fred was so irrational last year," I looked over at her but could only stare.

I must have looked upset since Hermione started to backpedal. "Marnie, I know you really cared for Cedric! I'm not trying to say you liked Fred during that time. I actually think you moved on from those feelings. It's not like Fred was ever mature about his feelings for you whereas Cedric seemed to be. I know this is a lot for anyone to contemplate, but out of all this tragedy, Fred seems to have really matured and stepped up for you. And I think it's because of all this tragedy that you owe it to yourself to try and be happy. Seeing how you care about everyone and accept a lot of people to be like family to you, I think you have enough room in your heart to remember Cedric and love Fred at the same time. Losing someone doesn't mean you have to be miserable and feel guilty forever. No one wants that for you Marnie, and I don't think Cedric would either. I hope I'm not overstepping, but I know Harry never tells you how worried he is about you, and trust me he's plenty worried," Hermione finished with a kind smile.

"You're right, I did move on. I didn't want to be with Fred so I chose Cedric. Ced treated me with kindness and he really loved me. And now he's dead and I shouldn't want to be with anyone else. I don't even know if I want to date, but I can't stop my thoughts. Most of the time I feel like I'm going through the motions of life, making it from one moment to the next. I feel blips of life whenever Snuffles chances a visit or Harry hugs me, or the twins pull off a prank. But, when Fred looks at me, it's like I'm transported back to life. I smile and laugh and feel like I can breathe again," I admitted, feeling embarrassed that my brother's best friend had to listen to all my insecurities.

"You know Marnie, I overheard when you said you think you should have been the Hogwarts champion. I know how unbelievably selfish this is, but I don't wish that. Harry is really having a tough time with all this, but I know he relies on you a lot to keep it together. The way you keep the twins in check and bring a sense of calm to the quidditch team. I mean, I don't have that sort of impression on them, they look at me like a pushy prefect. And Ron—he's always talked about you like he wishes he met you before the twins," Hermione's voice started to quicken in its pace.

I moved my hand and put it over hers. I noticed she brought her other hand up to quickly brush away some tears.

"Merlin, I am the complete worst! I wanted to console you; I know how rough of a time you've been having…" Hermione rambled but I squeezed her hand to cut her off.

"Hermione, you are important to Harry and Ron and the others. Don't cut yourself short. And also, thank-you. I needed someone other than the twins or Angelina telling me I'm alright. I need to stop accepting everyone's pity and make the hard decisions so I can get rid of all this guilt," I stood up before offering my hand to Hermione to help her up.

"So erm—Marnie… you know you can't come in here anymore," Hermione said nervously.

"Don't worry, you won't catch me in here again," I said rather elusively.

"That's not really what I was getting at," but I started walking away from her towards the exit, waving back since I knew what she really was getting at.

"And don't worry, Ced and I kept it PG in here," I turned around, watching as Hermione's face turned bright red with embarrassment.

I heard her stuttering but took my diversion to exit and avoid any detention she was determined to give me.


	66. Holding Hands

Fred had been giving me space all day but my conversation with Hermione was sticking in my head. There was so much misery lately and Fred was right, we were running out of chances since we were graduating this year and after that who knew what would happen. With a war brewing, there wouldn't be much time to try on new relationships. So decidedly the day after our date, after classes I walked over to where Fred was sitting on the couch. He was going over some papers which were undoubtedly product-related since both of the twins had lost a lot if interest in their studies lately.

I quietly sat beside him before putting my hand in his as non-chalantly as possible. Fred's shoulders tensed, but then he relaxed and instead he continued going over his notes. He didn't look at me but I could see the smile on his face. The reactions from everyone else around however us was a different story.

"Marnie and Fred are holding hands!" Alicia beamed excitedly.

"Oi, you lot have let Katie and Lee fumble around for years with their relationship, so why do we have to become the centre of attention?" Fred grumbled at our friends.

"Hey!" Lee exclaimed while Katie furiously blushed.

The rest all continued beaming but didn't say another word before they all went back to their homework and product making.

And this was all it took for Fred and I to start our relationship. Fred knew this was my way of answering his question and he seemed to not mind it being wordless. I felt excited and vowed to continue trying to accept this new life and relationship with as little guilt as possible.

George kept beaming but changed the subject before I could reprimand him for his stupid and suggestive grin.

"Hey Marnie, can you try these latest candies? I promise they won't make you vomit. You did say you would try out the next batch," George said, pulling out a box of purple candies.

"What are they?" I asked sceptically.

"Oh yea, that's a good idea Georgie. These ones are just prototypes for a flavour we're trying out," Fred added.

He gently pulled his hand from mine to tuck his notes back into his rucksack. George smiled and I could tell he wasn't trying to pull one over on me, especially with the reassurance from Fred. Maybe Hermione was right, I was one of only a few the twins didn't try and cross—except for maybe Ginny.

"They're wine flavoured, we wanted to introduce a line of alcohol flavoured candies for kids. They only mimic the flavour though and we just want to know if the flavour is any good," George explained.

"Alright, I'll give them a try," I replied, taking the box from George and setting them down beside me.

I decided to spend the afternoon reading through the Care of Magical Creatures book since Hagrid was back and I figured he would completely change the lesson plan. Everyone else was headed to either Divination or Ancient Runes. I was relieved not to have any of those electives and instead had a free afternoon. Fred smiled warmly at me before he followed everyone out of the common room.

Once everyone disappeared through the door I opened my book to start reading. As I read I lifted one of the candies from the box and popped it in my mouth. The taste was instant, very sweet but with a sharper taste— exactly like mulled wine. I was surprised with how much I liked the candies and decided to eat another one. I knew they would be an instant hit and figured I would give the twins a more thorough review if I ate a few more.

"Marnie—are those candies from Fred and George's prank collection?' Hermione came over, criticism dripping from her voice after I'd been sitting on the couch for a couple hours.

"They're not dangerous silly," I giggled, feeling weird since Hermione hadn't said anything worth laughing about.

I had noticed the feeling Fred gave me with his smile still warmed my body and made me feel giddy. It had actually prevented me from reading as much as I planned to this afternoon before my detention which was annoying.

"Are you alright Marnie?" Ron asked, looking at me with his eyebrows raised.

"You know Ron, you don't look anything like Fred or George," I replied to him before breaking out into more strange laughter.

"Erm—thanks?" Ron replied confused.

"What's so funny Marnie?" Harry asked, now coming into the common room as well.

He must have only been a few paces behind his two best friends when they returned from whatever class they had this afternoon.

"You're such a good brother Harry. You're always looking out for me. But you shouldn't worry so much, you're so grumpy little brother," I said to him with a large grin.

I then raised my hands to my cheeks since I realised they felt as if they were glowing under my hands.

"Marnie… are you drunk?" Hermione whispered feverishly before glaring back over at the box that only had a few candies left.

"So," Harry started in a glaring voice. "Those two idiots gave you a box of candies that made you drunk. And you have your detention in less than an hour with Umbridge!"

Harry was fuming, hands clenched and eyes glaring before his head whipped around the room. His eyes landed on the culprits as Fred and George coincidently came back from class and entered the common room.

"Harry, what's got you so heated?" Fred asked seeming less taken aback than those around him.

"You," Harry pointed his finger with a steely expression at Fred's chest. "Got my sister drunk. Right before she has to serve her detention with Umbridge of all people!"

Harry was livid, watching as both of the twins' expression turned to one of horror.

"Marnie, how many of those did you eat?" George asked in a panicked voice.

"Hmmm hmmm, most of them," I chuckled, smiling at the sudden appearance of my two best friends.

"Well… maybe one of you is my boyfriend now," I said out loud and felt as my cheeks heated up even more.

"Maybe this isn't the time to talk about that," Fred blushed furiously.

"Oh, hi guys!" I beamed, noticing Angelina, Alicia and Katie were now here with Lee.

"Hey Marnie, let's bring you upstairs," Angelina said, trying to coax her friend upstairs.

"Yea Hare, why don't you—" but Fred was cut off by Harry's steely glare.

"You two, you've done enough," Harry said angrily. "Hermione, please go up with Marnie and make sure she get's sobered up."

"Harry, we can manage—" but Angelina was also cut off by Harry who raised his hand to silence her.

"Please—go with them Hermione," Harry's order was absolute.

Hermione nodded, knowing there was no arguing with Harry when he was like this. Fred and George went off to the corner sulking, but the candies were already gone so they wouldn't get confiscated while Hermione and Ron were both preoccupied.

"Come here Marnie," Angelina guided me into the lavatory attached to our dorm.

She helped me out of my robes and handed them to Hermione who was standing beside her. Katie was starting the water in the shower. I could tell they were all annoyed and worried but my body wouldn't react accordingly. I still had a smile and felt really good. I knew I had felt like this before, like when I went and snogged Cedric in the Divination Tower.

"Bloody hell!" I shouted when Angelina pushed me into the running water still wearing my shirt and shirt. "It's freezing!"

"Well, we have to sober you up quick!" Angelina responded in an authoritative tone. "We don't have much choice."

Angelina stood at the exit of the shower and blocked my attempts to run out. She didn't move until she was thoroughly satisfied and I was a shivering mess.

"How do you feel Marnie?" Hermione asked as she handed me a towel.

"Like I'm about to catch my death, I'm probably going to end up with pneumonia," I grumbled before Alicia stepped forward and used another towel to dry my hair.

"Well, at least you're not giggling anymore. I swear, those two are complete idiots! And just when Fred finally started getting his act together for you," Angelina said in an annoyed tone.

"Well, they did say just to try one and I ended up eating most of the box," I replied, feeling self-conscious now that my mind was sobering.

"This is exactly the reason they shouldn't be testing them on students," Hermione fumed, putting on her prefect scowl.

"I offered Hermione, it's fine. I'm mostly worried over Harry, he's never going to accept Fred now," I said.

Hermione surprised me by chuckling. "Of course you're worried about that. Merlin, you and Harry are so similar. Don't worry so much about him, Harry just wants you to be happy, he'll come around. He get's on with Fred alright, so don't worry about him."

Angelina smiled at Hermione and the others looked less panicked now that I was seemingly back to normal.

"Let's just get you through the next few hours with Umbridge before you worry about Harry. Go get changed and we'll meet you downstairs," Angelina ordered.

I nodded and watched as all the others left, probably to go placate Harry and the others before I headed downstairs. However, everyone was already gone from the common room when I came down a few minutes later. I figured the girls must have convinced the boys to go down to dinner instead.

"Hare?" I heard a familiar voice call out.

I turned around and realised Fred was standing over in the corner and had went unnoticed when I entered from the staircase.

"Hey Fred," I said, feeling nervous as he approached looking anxious himself.

It was strange since I had never felt nervous around Fred before. This time however I was painfully aware of Fred's hands; one was running through his hair while the other hung at his side.

"I'm so sorry for the candies. George and I both tried them but we didn't try them in excess like you did, we had no idea you would get drunk," Fred fretted and I wondered if Harry had reamed him out some more.

"Don't worry about it, this is why you test the products right? And I thought you didn't put any alcohol in them anyway?" I asked, remembering what George had said when he left the candies with me.

"They're supposed to be harmless, but we realised the flavour we added must have fermented," Fred explained apologetically.

"Well, don't mind Harry's temper and I'm not upset. The cold shower was rather alarming but the girls did a good job, I'm definitely sober now," I shrugged, feeling self-conscious again that everyone was making this much of a fuss.

"Well, I'm glad you got sorted out," Fred said, flashing a grin now that also made me feel nervous and uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Fred asked cautiously, misinterpreting my reaction.

"Yea, I'm good," I replied before quickly stepping forward and brought my lips to his cheek.

I gently kissed his cheek before stepping back and then waving behind me as I exited the common room and headed towards Umbridge's office. Despite the fact that the next couple hours were most definitely consisting of Ministry sanctioned torture, I was feeling content and relaxed. I hadn't given Fred time to react since I was still feeling nervous acting as more than a best friend around him, but I was happy nonetheless.

When I arrived at Umbridge's office I knocked and promptly heard her call me inside. I opened the door and refrained from outwardly reacting to the amount of pink and cats in the room.

"Good evening Miss. O'Hara, please take a seat," she appraised me from her seat behind her desk.

The expression she gave me was expectant and she even looked pleased like she had lured her prey into a set trap just like she expected.

"I had thought my message sunk in already," Umbridge started in her calm voice while her gaze glanced down to my hand where there was a distinct scar, "but I was mistaken. Let's see how much we can get it to sink in this time."

Her stare was cunning and calculating as she waited for me to react to her double meaning, but I cleared any expression from my face. Instead, I walked over and sat down at the now familiar desk. I picked up her special quill and proceeded to write the same sentence as last time. It's not like I had forgotten since it was now tattooed in blood on my hand which I could use as reference anyways. It wasn't until five minutes to curfew that she finally dismissed me. My good mood was completely erased as I clenched my other fist in pain while blood ran from my reopened scars.

XX

The next day Fred walked me downstairs to breakfast. He had lost it last night when I returned with a bloodied hand but finally calmed down when I sat down beside him while I soaked my hand in Murtlap essence. I was surprised he quieted so easily until I felt him put his arm around my shoulder and we continued to sit in an easier silence.

As we descended the stairs headed towards the Great Hall my gaze turned to the corridor where I saw a group of Hufflepuffs walking. My gaze landed on Liam who was laughing with his friends and also had Natalie's hand in his. I watched as his laughter cut out as soon as his gaze landed on mine and travelled to my hand into Fred's.

"Hey Fred, save me a spot? I'll follow you in a minute," I said suddenly, feeling I wanted to sort this out with Liam before it spiralled out of control.

Fred noticed where I was staring and grunted in disapproval but obligingly let go of my hand.

"I'm only inside Hare, don't let them say anything cruel. They have no right to judge you," Fred said firmly.

I smiled and nodded, watching him enter the Great Hall as he looked back at me. I waved assuredly until he disappeared and then I turned towards Liam. Liam hadn't taken his eyes off of me and obligingly made an excuse to stay behind as well. Once he was alone I walked over towards him. He looked uneasy and I couldn't read his expression.

"So, you and a Weasley? I always told Cedric that they looked at you as more than a friend," Liam said in a flat tone.

"Well, just Fred I guess, George definitely doesn't like me that way," I replied, already feeling uneasy that Liam was judging me for moving on this quickly.

I was still feeling guilty and trying to follow Hermione's words as much as I could, but I still felt considerable doubt. Liam remained in an uncomfortable silence which only added to my nervousness.

"You know, when I was with Cedric I never thought of anyone else. The twins were always just my friends… I really loved him you know," I whispered, feeling my voice start to choke.

Liam sighed, running his hand behind his head. "Marnie, like I said, I'm still not in a place where we can be friends like before. But, I'm not going to judge you if you have found some way to be happy. It's not like I can't see the pain on your face when I catch you staring off in class. I know you're dealing with it just like the rest of us are trying. I mean it just seems impossible some days to even get out of bed. For Merlin's sake they even moved his fucking bed out of our dorm room so it wouldn't be a stark reminder, but it almost seems worse that he's being erased like that. I never doubted you when you went out with him, despite what I thought about your friends. So, don't feel like you have to justify yourself like this. He would want you to be happy, so that's what I want as well. Natalie has been a saint through all of this, I honestly don't know what I would have done without her. And you've really been alone in this, so if that Weasley can bring you some sanity, then that should be enough," Liam finished looking uncomfortable but I could tell he was being sincere.

"That—that means a lot coming from you," I replied quietly, not bringing myself to be able to look at him directly so I stared down at the floor.

"Right, well Natalie will be wondering where I am," Liam said before walking away towards the entrance.

I remained rooted in place where I took a deep breath before standing up straighter and headed into the Great Hall. Fred was already looking towards me when I walked in, probably because he had noticed Liam walk in before me. I smiled at Fred and it must have looked genuine since he smiled back. It was a huge relief to hear Liam condone my relationship since we were the only two who were still deeply rooted in the grieving process over Cedric.

Fred kept looking over at me all throughout breakfast but didn't ask about Liam. I didn't know what Fred must be thinking and I knew it must be difficult for him to date someone who's ex was only out of the picture because he had been killed. But, I kept a smile on my face since I did feel relieved and like I had more of a right to date Fred despite Liam's opinion being technically irrelevant.

"So, it'll be great having a girlfriend in the stands for our first game of the season!" Fred said with a grin after several minutes of sitting in silence.

I took his change of subject as his understanding that my talk with Liam was part of my own process to move on and Fred was accepting this without butting in.

"Yea, but I don't know if I can date a loser, so Gryffindor better win," I smirked back at him.

This seemed to lighten the atmosphere between us since my response incited our usual banter. Angelina and the others soon joined us and Angelina scowled that I would even suggest Gryffindor would lose. They were playing this weekend against Slytherin and that soon became the topic everyone was talking about while Fred moved to put his hand in mine as we finished our breakfast. I couldn't get over how relaxed I felt about my relationship changing with Fred, but I finally felt the world around me come more into focus since it crumbled last spring.


	67. Toads and Sirens

"Can I get a kiss for good luck?" Fred asked the morning of their match against Slytherin.

"What?" I replied, feeling as my insides turned icy cold.

My memory flashed back to Cedric asking for a kiss before he competed in the third task. Instantly, I felt clammy thinking that Fred was asking me something eerily similar. And coming to think about it, hadn't someone tried to kill Harry during his first year during a quidditch game? And then there was the time Harry and I both plummeted off the stands in my fifth year because of the dementors. Arguably, quidditch could be fatal so now I wanted to scream at Fred not to play.

"Oi, don't talk about kissing Marnie while we're all trying to keep down our breakfast as it is," Harry barked from the other side of the table.

Harry's interruption acted as a distraction for Fred and the others not to ask why I was suddenly trembling. I was trying to work up the nerve to ask Fred to bench this game but Gryffindor didn't have any reserves and the severe look on Angelina's face reminded me of how much effort she had been putting in to make the team fit.

My thoughts were becoming overwhelming and I couldn't form a reply or even recognise if anyone was talking to me anymore. I was finally brought out of my plummeting spiral when I felt Fred's soft lips brush my cheek. I looked up to see the worry in his eyes but all the other team members were starting to head out to the pitch.

"Come back to me alright?" I blurted out in a panicked voice.

Fred stopped short and stared at me with a more serious expression now that he somewhat realised what I must be thinking.

"I'm not going anywhere Hare. Just breathe," he replied softly.

I felt as he stepped forward and took my hand. He moved it up so that it was pressing against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat beneath his jersey which made me feel both relieved and deeply sad that he was alive in front of me.

"Take a deep breath Hare," Fred said softly and I followed him inhale and exhale with my own breathing.

Fred and I stood there for a several moments before I gently pulled my hand away from his.

"Come on Hare, I'll walk you to the pitch and then you can go find Neville and the others," Fred offered.

I nodded and let him pull me by the hand until we made it to the grounds.

"Di—did I say something?" Fred asked once we were standing near the entrance of the stands where I would go to find the others.

"It's alright. I don't want to compare anything, it just startled me when I realised how many times there's almost been a fatal incident during a quidditch game," I whispered, not wanting to tell Fred that his words echoed Cedric's in my head.

I watched as Fred's lips pursed. "Well, don't lean forward off the stands. You know what don't even stand up. Sit in between Hermione and Neville and I'll do my best to make sure Gryffindor wins it early," Fred finished with a cocky smirk.

"Alright, I'll meet you after," I promised before walking off into the stands.

I easily found the group since they were in our usual spot. And just like Fred suggested I took the seat in between Neville and Hermione and waited for the team to step out onto the field. When I finally saw the Gryffindor team entering the pitch, there seemed to be even more applause than normal.

"That's strange that Slytherin is louder than normal," Hermione said with a frown.

"Are they chanting?' Neville asked suspiciously.

"Oh no," I replied, hearing what they were actually doing.

It seemed the Slytherins had come up with some sort of chant about Ron. I knew Ron was already having trouble performing whenever he lost his nerve, and this surely would make him doubt himself. I only hoped that Fred kept his promise and somehow ended the game early, even though that really depended on Harry. However I didn't get to watch much of it since I heard a grating whisper behind me once both teams kicked off the ground to start the match.

"Seems convenient that you trade in one quidditch player for another," Marcus Flint whispered cunningly.

My shoulders tensed as I felt my previous anxiety and newfound anger rising inside of me.

"Bugger off Flint," I retorted without turning around.

Hermione and Neville hadn't initially heard Flint so they both turned around in surprise when they heard my response to him.

"I've seen you and the weasel holding hands in the hallway. You don't waste anytime do you? I mean the dirt is still fresh on your ex-lover's grave and you've already shacked up with someone else," I could hear the contempt and bating in his voice but I refused to give in.

Hermione on the other hand asserted her prefect manner and retorted furiously.

"You can't speak to Marnie like that!" she refuted angrily.

"I don't listen to stupid mudbloods, you people all make me sick," Flint spat back at her.

This seemed to be the excuse I was looking for. I refused to react to his derogatory quips towards me but insulting Hermione like that pushed my patience past its threshold. As Flint stared at Hermione now with a disgusted look I took his distraction as an opportunity to stand up and grab him by his collar. My wand was pressed into his stomach and I knew we blended in with all the other students standing and cheering. I relished in the fact that I could see the fear in Flint's eyes but his mouth smirked unexpectedly.

"Professor Umbridge! Help me professor!" Flint hollered.

His expression was twisted into a smirk while his voice was veiled to seem like I was the threat here. Instead of waiting to see if the toad woman ever heard his fake cries I bolted out of the stands. I didn't know if Umbridge would take my side or Flint's, especially when Hermione was a prefect who would back me up. But then there was the undeniable fact that the newly appointed High Inquisitor wanted me and Harry booted out of the school.

I ran past all the cheering Gryffindors and jeering Slytherins until I was out on the grounds. I subconsciously decided not to go into the school but instead found the hidden passageway near the greenhouses. I brushed through the foliage, ignoring the scrapes from the thorns and jabbing sticks until I came into the passageway itself. Once I was inside I collapsed onto the ground and buried my head into my lap, covering my face with my hands. I hated that I let Flint get to me, or at least made it look like I cared what he said. Truthfully, I couldn't care less about him, especially since I knew my skills exceeded his so I wouldn't land myself in the hospital wing again if he decided to ambush me. But my thoughts were unbearable as my guilt and anguish rose up with a heightened sense of ferocity.

Since my thoughts were so overwhelming I didn't hear much of the game and had no clue who won. It didn't help that the cheering was boisterous and the Slytherins kept up their own chant. I just kept hearing something about Gryffindor having a king on their team.

It was nearly an hour later when I finally heard a set of footsteps approaching me from behind. I didn't know if he had borrowed the map from Harry or if he just knew me well enough to figure out where I would hide. Instead of hiding in the prefect bathroom like last time which is a spot Cedric would have found me in, this spot was one where only Fred would find me. My thoughts still hadn't subsided but I pulled my head up slowly at the sound of his voice.

"You know I started out really upset that my girlfriend wasn't there after the end of the game, but then I realised it wasn't anything I ever expected of you when we were just friends. Plus, Hermione told me what that git said to you and I almost lost it all over again," Fred said as he sat down beside me.

I remembered last time Fred (and George) found me here after a quidditch game the first time I dreamt about my mother and then received a letter from my father telling me what I had seen happened in real life.

"I—I'm sorry I bailed," I wiped away my tears but it was futile since I couldn't get them to stop.

"Hare, come here," Fred said, choosing to pull me into an embrace instead of trying to comfort me through words.

As soon as I felt his arms enclose me my silent tears turned into sobs. I wasn't deluding myself that Fred's arms were Cedric's since both of them felt so different. Their scents also gave them away and honestly I didn't wish that Fred was Cedric. Missing Cedric wasn't tied to my feelings for Fred, but I also couldn't deny that the reason I was with Fred now was because Cedric was no longer here. I never wanted to break up with Cedric when he was still alive so I have to believe that my relationship with Fred wouldn't have started otherwise.

Fred let me cry into his dirt-stained jersey until I could finally get a hold of myself.

"Fred?" I asked, moving myself from his arms to face him again.

"Hmm?" he replied gently.

"What did you mean when you said, 'lose it all over again?" I remembered exactly what he said when he arrived.

"Well, about that. I didn't really want to say anything until you were feeling better…" Fred paused to scratch the back of his head nervously.

I inhaled sharply, trying to imagine what had Fred so nervous when nothing really ever got to him. Each scenario in my head was worse than the last until I started to feel dizzy from a lack of oxygen.

"Well, George, Harry and I got ourselves kicked off the team," he explained embarrassed.

"What?!" I exhaled loudly.

"Yea, Malfoy was mouthing off after the game. The three of us wanted to put him in his place; knock him down a peg or four. But the old toad lady was all too eager to use it as an excuse to kick us all off the team. That being said I would avoid Angelina for a while—she's fit to be tied at the moment," Fred was caught somewhere between embarrassment and frustration.

I laughed harshly. "That woman won't quit until this school is just her and her obliging Slytherin followers."

"Listen Hare don't go doing anything about it alright. She's already taken it out on the three of us and I'm sure she's just waiting to add you to the list. Plus, Flint is in top shape apparently running his mouth like Malfoy, so just lay low. You're going through enough as it is love," Fred said while gripping my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine.

I remained quiet, not knowing how to respond to this much of Fred's gentler side.

"Oh and one more thing…" Fred looked even more serious now. "Don't ever think you have to hide your grief from me. I know you well enough to know you didn't come here to get away from Flint but instead you didn't want me to see you crying over Cedric. I know I never warmed up to the guy when you were dating him but I'm not some sick git who thinks he won you over because he died. A lot of the time I think I should have waited to ask you but I was selfish."

I felt my eyes widening and lips parting in shock. Even while we were best friends I rarely saw this side of Fred. I thought back to what Hermione said and wondered if Fred had grown up a bit since deciding to ask me out.

"Fred, I didn't agree to date you because I was lonely or wanted a replacement. The truth was I would have turned down absolutely anyone else. Dating you somehow makes even more sense than letting myself grieve alone," I replied truthfully.

Fred embraced me again and I figured that he didn't have anymore sentimental words but his actions spoke for him. Being with Fred was an entirely new experience, leaving me feeling ill prepared for what to expect.

XX

And just as Fred warned, Angelina was unapproachable for an entire week after the match. Even though Harry caught the snitch to secure the win for Gryffindor, losing three players was a tough situation to rectify. Harry was just as prickly as Angelina since quidditch was one thing I knew let him feel completely free from everything else. I wanted to help both of them but knew them well enough to leave it alone for the time being. Surprising however was Fred and George who shook it off and instead delved deeper into their product-making. Me on the other hand was actually trying to keep up with my NEWT studies so I wasn't as involved as I had been in the past. Plus, I figured both twins still felt slightly guilty for getting me drunk last time I tried a product.

"Ugh, it's a nightmare trying to put up the Christmas decorations when Peeves in constantly throwing ink pellets at you," Ron grumbled one day in December as he came over to join Harry who had been sitting with us waiting for him and Hermione to return. "I mean why do the prefects have to decorate anyway?"

Ron huffed again before walking past to go up to the dormitories, presumably to shower off the ink stains on his arms and face.

"Erm—Ron?" I asked before he was out of earshot.

"Yea," Ron turned around with an odd sort of smile on his face.

"If there's still any decorating left, can I join you tomorrow?" I asked.

I noticed that everyone in the group turned to look at me sceptically but no one said anything.

"Sure!" Ron beamed. "Tomorrow we have to decorate the trees so it would be a really big help."

Ron's face turned a slight pink before he caught Fred's eye and then decided to continue up to his dormitory.

"What's that all about? You're busy with all your NEWT homework right?" Fred asked from beside me.

"I helped Cedric decorate last year. I don't know, hearing Ron complain about it actually got me thinking I would like to help out again this year," I replied.

I heard Fred expel a long breath beside me but it was quiet so I might have been the only one to hear it.

"It's good that you're feeling up for something like that. I think it's a good idea," Harry finally said from my other side.

Angelina and the others agreed before they each fell back into their previous task. I looked over at Fred since he still hadn't said anything and realised that he had just shared a look with Harry over my head but erased his expression before I could decipher what it was.

"Just don't let my prat of a brother shuck off all of his responsibilities because you're nice enough to help him out. Maybe tag along with Hermione instead," Fred finally said before he too dropped the subject.

However, the next day Hermione completed her tasks early in the morning before I could ask so I contently went along with Ron. Fred grumbled about it but one look from Harry seemed to stop him from saying anything about it.

"Excited about the DA tonight?" Ron asked to make light conversation as we descended the stairs into the Entrance Hall.

"Yea, everyone's been really improving," I replied.

"Well, I don't know about that Smith git, but everyone else is really coming along!" Ron agreed excitedly after he grimaced over his own mention of Zacharias Smith.

"Oh, and did you hear that Mum invited your family to the Burrow for Christmas?" Ron continued sounding both nervous and excited.

"Yes, Fred told me as soon as he got the letter from your mum. I told Harry about it and he's hoping Sirius might be able to come along as well," I replied hoping for the same thing.

"Er—right. Mum would mention it to Fred as well," Ron said sounding disappointed.

"Is Hermione invited?" I asked, wanting to turn the conversation away from me.

"Yea, she's invited," Ron replied simply.

I frowned, wondering how Ron actually felt about Hermione when Hermione was a little more obvious and open with her emotions. But Ron led me to the boxes of decorations before I could press the issue further. I immediately got started and effortlessly fell into an easy contentment as I carefully hung each ornament onto an empty branch. I used magic so I wouldn't waste time for Ron, but still moved one ornament at a time for careful placement.

"You know Marnie…" Ron exclaimed from beside me and I didn't know when he had actually moved over here.

I looked over and saw he had another blush spreading across his face. I frowned, thinking about how embarrassed Ron always seemed to get whenever he talked to anyone besides Harry and Hermione.

"Er—well I never said sorry about Cedric. He was a pretty okay seeker, even if he wasn't as good as Harry. But, Harry always talks about what a hard time you're having and well—I'm sorry," Ron fumbled over his words but I only smiled in return.

"Thank-you Ron, that's very kind," I replied warmly.

Decorating the tree and now hearing Ron's words of condolence actually made me feel content remembering Cedric instead of the usual misery it stirred up.

"Oi, I told you he would slack off and make you do all the work!" Fred exclaimed as he, George and Lee entered into the Great Hall.

"I—I just came to see how Marnie was getting on!" Ron refuted in frustration.

"Actually, I think we're all done here," I said, noticing Ron's box was empty as I secured the last bulb onto a branch near the top.

"Right—well it looks great Hare," Fred admired and moved to stand closer to me than Ron was standing.

"See you tonight little brother?" George winked at Ron before both twins dragged me away.

"Right—thanks for the help Marnie!" Ron called out but the boys already had me halfway down the Great Hall.

For the rest of the afternoon I spent it seated on a couch in the common room while I poured over Herbology notes and the twins with Lee spitballed new product ideas.

"Hare, your brother already left about fifteen minutes ago so the coast is probably clear," Fred said, pulling my attention from my notes.

"Alright," I assented, allowing myself to forego anymore studying to attend the DA meeting.

Fred grabbed onto my hand before leading me out of the common room towards the Room of Requirement.

"So Hare, is there anything you want for Christmas?" Fred asked rather unexpectedly.

"What, we've never exchanged presents before," I replied, feeling guilty that I hadn't even thought about presents.

"Well yea, but you're my girlfriend now. I would be a poor excuse if I didn't get you something," he smiled back.

"Erm—you don't have to do that. There isn't anything I want anyways," I replied honestly.

I found that my finger automatically folded upwards to touch my dangling fairy charm. The hand that Fred wasn't holding bore the sister bracelet Harry gave me since I never took it off. And abidingly it also meant I wore the fairy charm that Cedric gave me two Christmas's ago.

"Alright, well this is my warning. I'm getting you something so don't be surprised. And in return—" Fred's eyes lit up mischievously. "I want a kiss under the mistletoe."

My eyes widened and I felt myself become embarrassed that Fred was being this forward. I didn't know why since I really did enjoy snogging Fred, but this seemed more intimate since he was deeming it worthy as a Christmas present.

I didn't say anything while Fred continued to smirk and we entered through the hidden doorway. All fluttering thoughts vanished immediately though when we entered and I realised the only other two people in the room were Harry and Cho; snogging under the mistletoe.

Immediately my hands lifted and covered my eyes while Fred only laughed hysterically.

"Oi, feel free to use the room when you're not expecting twenty-five other people to show up for practice," Fred exclaimed cheekily.

"Don't suggest for them to come back alone!" I reprimanded while still keeping my eyes covered.

"Come on Hare, your little brother is behaving himself now," he continued in a voice that told he was thoroughly enjoying the awkward moment.

"Shut it or I won't agree to your Christmas present," I replied, knowing how to respond to finally get Fred to stop.

"Awe Hare come on! Alright, alright I'll behave," Fred conceded with his hands raised in the air.

I had uncovered my eyes when Fred assured me the coast was clear. I also saw now that Harry had dashed over to the new arrivals walking through the door while Cho stayed over to the side. However, I accidentally made eye contact with her and she was now glaring at me, same as before when she liked Cedric. I didn't know if she was upset that I was with Fred or that I had interrupted her with Harry, but both scenarios made me loath her even more. She wasn't the one who fell in love with the boy who got killed and now she was making moves on my brother; it was disturbing.

I huffed and folded my arms, but Fred missed Cho's icy glare and instead grabbed onto my arm and led me to the other side to wait for everyone else to arrive. Fred decidedly deemed himself as my new partner which meant Neville ended up with Luna and Ginny paired with George. Thankfully, the meeting turned into a distraction that made me forget about Harry and Cho and I only hoped that Harry would come to his senses and break up with the siren in disguise.


	68. Snake Bites

"Marnie…" a gentle voice called after me as I ran through the tall grass I recognised fondly as being the fields around our cottage.

"Marnie darling be careful in the tall grass," the voice warned but I was too happy to turn around and acknowledge her.

"Ow!" I howled only a moment later when I felt my foot step on something rubbery with spikes.

I looked down to see a snake wrapped around my ankle with its fangs sticking into my skin.

"AHHHHH!" I screamed, alarming the voice that had been following me.

I was immediately lifted into the air and that's when I realised my height was significantly lower than I was used to.

"Impedimenta!" the voice exclaimed and I felt as the tight cord around my ankle loosened and the voice's hand tore it from my body.

"Marnie, this is why you have to watch where you're stepping. Let's go get some medicine back at the house," the voice said in a calmer voice.

I finally looked up to see who was speaking and saw that it was my mother. I didn't remember ever being bitten by a snake in the meadows, but if my mother was the one who was picking me up then I was only three years old at the most. I watched my mother lovingly but realised she was crying.

"Mum?" I asked, but the voice didn't emit from my mouth. "Mum, what's wrong?"

I felt more anxious that she was crying when it seemed I was alright now in her arms. My foot wasn't sore and we had medicine back at the house. But suddenly I was pulled away from my mother's concerned embrace into the dark of night lying in my four-poster bed. I also wasn't alone when I instantly noticed someone standing over me. She was distraught and I realised then that this must have been the crying I heard instead.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" I immediately sobered and sensed that something was very wrong if Ginny was waking me up in the middle of the night crying.

She only shook her head and pulled my arm so that I followed her out of the room. I figured she didn't want to wake up the others so I obligingly let her lead me out and down the stairs. I was even more anxious though when I saw Professor McGonagall in her nightclothes standing with Fred, George and Ron.

"What's happened?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm sorry but we can't waste anymore time. Miss. Weasley insisted she wake you up before the Weasleys leave. I will come back escorting Harry so say your quick goodbyes and you wait here until I return," McGonagall said with urgency.

Ginny didn't need anymore insistence before she threw herself around my waist. I could feel her fear so I squeezed my arms tightly around her and watched the twins and Ron with worry.

"They're saying dad's in the hospital," Ginny whispered but let go to allow Fred to step forward.

McGonagall was already leading Ginny and Ron towards the exit so I threw my arms around Fred and held even tighter than before.

"I'm scared Hare," Fred barely whispered and I hated that I was being left behind.

"I love you," I whispered back fiercely.

Fred nodded, allowing for George to quickly yet very tightly embrace me before they hurried after our head of house and younger siblings. As soon as they were out of sight I started pacing the common room. I knew I couldn't wake up anyone else since I assumed this had something to do with the Order if they were all leaving like this, hurriedly in the middle of the night. I also thought back to the dream I had, since it had my mother in it and that always meant a warning. Especially since this is the situation I awoke to. But what could it possibly mean showing me getting bitten by a snake when I was a child.

It felt like an eternity by the time the common room door opened again.

"Harry!" I ran over to pull him fiercely into my arms.

McGonagall looked worn out and worried but quietly excused herself now that Harry was returned to his dormitory and I was fussing over him. I pulled Harry's hand so that we both sat in front of the fire.

"I think they all blame me for what happened," Harry whispered before sinking his head into his hands.

"Who thinks that? Dumbledore?" I felt like rushing up to the headmasters office immediately if he had been the one to set off my brother's keen sense for self-blame.

"No, Ron—and the twins, and Ginny," Harry sounded so much younger than he actually was admitting his insecurities.

Or maybe I was used to seeing him act so much older that this was more appropriate for this actual age.

"Harry, they don't blame you, they're just terrified right now. Just walk me through what happened," I replied gently.

I wondered if I should just let him fall asleep since he had no doubt explained what happened already to Dumbledore, but I felt this time Harry needed someone to confide his personal doubts.

Harry immediately set off into a summary of what happened, starting with his vivid dream of Mr. Weasley being attacked in the Department of Mysteries by a snake up until the Weasley's were whisked away to Grimmauld Place through Dumbledore's fireplace.

"Marnie, I was the snake that attacked Mr. Weasley. I think I'm somehow responsible for this," Harry buried his head back into his hands.

"Harry, did I ever tell you about the first vivid dream I had about my mother?" I looked at Harry but he only shook his head from his hands. "Well, it wasn't a memory like all the other ones. It started out that way but ended with me being my mother in her hospital room. It was really eerie and because I freaked out so much, mum got out of bed and broke her leg from tripping."

"Really?" this piqued Harry's interest as he brought his head out from his lap. "But, Mr. Weasley might die, Marnie! Lena was fine wasn't she?"

Harry was sounding more desperate now.

"That's not the point I'm making Harry. I'll say the same thing the twins told me when I broke down sobbing and told them. I was so scared that I had some kind of power that could harm people I ran away. But they tracked me down and told me that I don't have the capacity to harm people. Harry, you care for Mr. Weasley deeply. His family has cared for us like their own and all you feel is gratitude and love towards them, right? So even if you shared the same eyes as the snake like I did with my mother, neither of us shared their actions," I felt more confident about it now than I had years earlier.

Maybe I was beginning to see what everyone was talking about when they told me I needed to realise I was a Gryffindor. And the same goes for Harry who was almost sorted into Slytherin.

"You believe that I can't hurt people?" Harry sounded like he was clinging onto my words.

"Of course I believe in that, even when you don't," I replied evenly.

Harry offered a small smile before we sank into an uneasy silence. I hoped Harry believed what I told him, but there was still the matter that we both knew Mr. Weasley was in mortal peril and we didn't have any updates. I couldn't help wondering if the twins had gone to see him in the hospital yet or even if the Order got to him in time. We both lost track of time and didn't fall asleep so I was surprised when I heard people coming down for an early breakfast before heading off to the train for Christmas break.

"I should tell Hermione at breakfast," Harry yawned but we were interrupted by someone else coming into the common room.

"O'Hara. Potter. Detention for falling asleep in the common room. Go and pack you trunks and bring them to my office to serve your detention," McGonagall called out looking flustered under her usual steady gaze.

"But professor, we didn't even sleep!" I retorted but McGonagall looked more annoyed than usual that I was objecting to her harsh punishment.

"Yea professor, the train leaves in a couple hours for home," Angelina appeared looking perplexed that we would be given a detention for something so trivial right before the Christmas break.

"I will escort you to the station after your detention is served. Now, you have fifteen minutes to get ready and be in my office," McGonagall ordered and stayed rooted in place for observation.

I looked at the professor and wondered if this was some sort of plan. Maybe Harry was no longer safe after last night's episode so I didn't stall anymore and tore up the stairs to get packed and ready.

When Harry and I entered McGonagall's office a prompt fifteen minutes later there was a platter of muffins awaiting us instead of the usual parchment and quills for lines.

"Sorry you two, but I'm sure you're aware that four students leaving in the middle of the night already has the High Inquisitor in a frenzy. You will stay here until the last minute when I will escort you personally to the station," I smiled at McGonagall and hated to think of her taking the fall from that old hag who had it out for any professor loyal to Dumbledore, which was literally every professor here.

"And it's best if you don't tell anyone about last night until you are back in London. Possibly Miss Granger can be filled in but the more people who know the more precarious the situation," McGonagall explained and I nodded.

I would let the twins fill in Lee and the others as they saw fit and would just plead ignorance until then. Angelina might not believe me but she also wouldn't push the envelope either.

"I can't believe McGonagall gave you a detention just before Christmas break! What did you do to put her in such a foul mood?" Lee asked, while also giving me a look of admiration.

"Lee, I didn't do anything. I woke up early to talk to Harry and she just came storming in," I shrugged, keeping the story as similar to the truth as possible.

I noticed Angelina's appraising look, but like I figured, she didn't push the subject further.

"And the twins went back early because their father is sick? I hope he's alright," Alicia said worriedly.

Of course Lee had told them over breakfast that the twins were missing along with their trunks. So when I saw them at the train station they swarmed over me in concern. I'm sure Angelina suspected that my early rising had something to do with the twins so I was thankful she didn't voice her assumption.

"It's not like they're concerned with classes anyway, so they can focus on their family without being too sidetracked. As for me, I'm just glad to be done the term. NEWT classes are a special type of torture," Katie sulked.

"Yea, and quidditch is a nightmare with the twins and Harry gone. Ginny is quite good but the other two can't hold a stick to Fred and George's talent. Do you think they'll even come back from Christmas break?" Angelina looked more worried now.

"What do you mean Ange?" I hadn't considered the twins might not come back to school.

"Well, I mean we only have a semester left and it's no secret between us that the twins don't really care about studies. They spend every extra minute working on their joke products. Plus, now that they're not on the team is there anything really keeping them here?"

"Uhh, well I would hope Marnie counts as a reason for them to stay, especially Fred," Katie looked indignant that Angelina would even suggest such a thing, but the more I thought about it the more I sided with Angelina.

"I don't know about the twins, but their mother sure wouldn't let them skip out," I replied, knowing this was a true statement as well.

Even if Fred and George wanted to stay at home to perfect their joke products and keep by their father, Mrs. Weasley probably wouldn't let them.

The conversation eventually turned away from the twins but I couldn't shake Ange's comment. It wasn't anything the twins had brought up, but now they certainly had an argument for their mother if Mr. Weasley was in critical condition.

Once the train pulled into London, I grabbed my trunk and found Harry with Hermione in the hallway. Hermione gave me a knowing look but we just left it at that. I could tell she hated to be leaving us when Harry and I would be filled in by this evening and we couldn't even send her a letter as an update. I wondered if she would join us at Grimmauld Place later on after her parents took her home.

"Dad!" I shouted, seeing him standing on the platform with his hands in his pockets.

I also noticed Mad-Eye Moody and Nymphadora Tonks standing behind him, not looking at all discreet.

"Marnie! Harry!" my dad walked over while Hermione stayed with us for the time being.

He wrapped the both of us in a hug before shaking hands with Hermione. Dad always looked so relieved whenever he saw friends of mine or Harry's and I wondered if he doubted we could make friends very easily.

"Is he—?" Hermione let the pregnant pause speak volumes since it probably wasn't wise to truly ask the question out loud.

"He's stable. We all visited today in the hospital so there's nothing to worry about," my father reassured the three of us.

Each of us in turn exhaled rather loudly as if we had all been holding our breaths.

"Come on, we shouldn't be idly standing here," Moody barked, shifting his eyes suspiciously around the crowded platform.

"Right, well I'm sure we'll be seeing you later on in the holiday Hermione," my father said more politely.

Hermione nodded and then spotted her parents before rushing off across the platform to greet them. My father put both of his hands on mine and Harry's shoulders before following Mad-Eye and Tonks out of the station. I felt relieved Mr. Weasley was going to be alright, but my chest still tightened with anxiety. It felt like whatever was going on in the Order, this was only the beginning.


	69. Christmas Cheer

Remus was waiting for us outside the station, having not wanted to catch the attention of any milling students who might recognise him. The glaring letters he had received at the end of my fifth year came torrenting back to mind, making me feel fed up with the blatant prejudices of our current world.

Remus smiled at both me and Harry, but Mad-Eye's growl prevented him from embracing us. Instead, Remus stepped forward towards my father, leaving Tonks to grab my arm while Moody pulled Harry in rather unceremoniously. Then, without another word the six of us were transported to the front step of number twelve Grimmauld Place.

"I'm of age you know. I can apparate on my own," I muttered but Tonks shrugged with her ever present grin before we all pressed into the front hall.

Thankfully this time Tonks avoided kicking over the umbrella stand or tripping over her own feet so we avoided the typical blatantly prejudice shrieks from Sirius's mother's portrait. Instead I felt my father's hand press up against my back as he guided me with the others to the back kitchen. As we walked closer, the bustling of movement and voices reverberated from inside the closed room. Moody was the first one to enter followed single file by the rest of us. Harry and I had thankfully deposited our trunks at the foot of the staircase, because the kitchen was filled by most of the Weasley's and a few more Order members.

"Harry! Marnie!" Mrs. Weasley was the first one upon us, bringing both of us into a motherly embrace.

"Hi Mrs. Weasley," I mumbled into her shoulder, allowing her to keep holding onto us a little longer than usual.

"I'm so happy you got here alright. Dumbledore was worried you two might have trouble getting to the train on time," I let Mrs. Weasley's words confirm my suspicions that Umbridge had most likely been conspiring to use Harry and I as leverage to find out why the others left last night without any notice.

"Minerva said she had it handled," Moody grumbled back, seeming more confident that Harry and I would make it to London without issue.

In the line of embraces to follow, Fred and George were eagerly waiting behind their mother. As soon as Mrs. Weasley let both Harry and I go somewhat reluctantly, Fred pulled my arm so that I was squished together with our usual trio. I could feel the relief both of them felt, as I was sure they could feel my own relief in return. This Christmas could be held in celebration after all instead of the miserable tragedy we were all worried for only the night before.

George did oblige Fred however by leaving the embrace early so that it was just the two of us. Fred moved his arms so that I fit into his chest, breathing in the scent of gun powder and fresh mint. His warm body filled me with a sudden relief, letting myself finally be reassured that everything was alright, at least for the time being. His even breathing and heartbeat beneath his cozy sweater also calmed my own breathing until all the heaviness of my body became absorbed into his arms.

That is, until a familiar sound of someone clearing their throat caused Fred to jump back so that there was now a decent couple inches between us.

I gave Sirius a rueful smile in return, since I knew he had interrupted Fred and I mostly out of self-amusement rather than the embarrassment shown on my father and Remus's faces.

"It's good to see you Marnie," Sirius came forward with an elated smile.

I couldn't help returning the grin, letting his rejuvenated joy spark even more calm and ease inside me. Honestly, I had never seen Sirius this enthusiastic before, but his smile and demeanor reaffirmed his words that he was in fact happy to see me and Harry. He continued forward until he was pulling me into a fatherly embrace that I was used to from Remus.

Feeling this sudden sense of familial comfort briefly made me wonder if having three father figures somehow filled my void of growing up without a mother. Also, I wondered if it eased some of Harry's own suffering of being raised as an orphan. At the very least, discovering this new family of ours must have been a relief against Harry's previous understanding that Lily's sister was his only remaining family.

"Now that we're all here, we can start the Christmas celebrations!" Sirius exclaimed jovially, letting me go to busy himself beside Mrs. Weasley who seemed to be putting together our welcoming dinner.

I found a spot beside Ginny, allowing her to lay her head on shoulder as a show of comfort and exhaustion. I was sure the Weasleys hadn't gotten much sleep since they wouldn't have been able to sleep until news of their father's well-being and then they had gone with their mother today to visit him.

"Dad wants to see you and Harry tomorrow," Ginny said gently, keeping her head rested comfortably on my shoulder.

"Harry and I would love that," I replied earnestly, thinking that my own confirmation of Mr. Weasley's well-being would completely rid of my remaining unease.

Ginny and I then fell into a comfortable silence, watching the twins talking animatedly with Sirius and Harry who were sitting farther down the table. Mad-Eye and Tonks were even further down, talking mutedly with Remus, my father, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Dedalus Diggle. The last two men I only really knew by name, although Kingsley had made a point to share more meals with us during the summer. It really came down to the fact that I had been resolute in my grief during the summer, not participating in anything that didn't concern Harry returning from his wretched aunt's place or worrying whether he was going to be expelled for using underaged magic.

By the time Mrs. Weasley served and cleared up dinner, I realised just how tired I was feeling, along with Harry and the rest of the Weasley's.

"I think it calls for an early night, don't you think?" my father announced, looking between Harry and I with concern before he scanned more thoughtfully over the others.

I was all too happy to oblige his suggestion so I only nodded and made to follow Ginny up to the room we had shared this summer with Hermione.

"Marnie. Harry, can I have a minute?" my father asked, catching us before we made our way with heavy feet upstairs.

Although we were both visibly tired, we wouldn't deny my father a moment since he had been uncharacteristically silent on the subject of all what had happened. I was sure Dumbledore and the others must have filled everyone in by now on what transpired, so honestly he was probably more in the loop than we were. But I was convinced this was more out of paternal concern than Order strategizing.

This was further confirmed when dad led us to the drawing room instead of keeping us in the kitchen which seemed to be the room designated for both celebrating and strategizing. When we came to the drawing room I chose one of the more comfortable looking sitting chairs which emitted a cloud of dust when I sat down. Despite all our days of cleaning during the summer, it seemed this house as destined to be clung in dust and stuffy air. However, the once constricting sense I felt over the summer now washed over a new sense of familiarity and contentment. Seeing Sirius and the others looking more at ease than in the summer, and my own mourning not as blindingly acute, made me appreciate it more.

Harry chose the other chair beside mine while dad took the love seat across. His eyes were scrunched with concern but this was contradicted by his gentle smile. I didn't know which of dad's emotions was going to come through in this conversation, but in this moment I held my father in high esteem for the particular cards he had been given. Leaving our unpleasant past out of it, my father was right now a squib joined in the Order against the darkest wizard ever to be seen in Britain, for the second time in his life. The first time had taken his wife and best friends away from him, and now he was responsible for raising his daughter alone who had already suffered a terrible loss and also a boy who he had all but adopted.

"I just wanted to see how you two are dealing with everything. It has definitely been an eventful twenty-four hours and I know you two feel like you've been left in the dark," my father let his comment fill up between us.

I already knew Harry was on edge, but my father's comment seemed to tip him off before he could collect himself in his usual brood.

"I just can't stop feeling like I attacked Mr. Weasley. Marnie told me that I'm not capable of doing that, but I can't shake the feeling that I was looking through the eyes of that snake," Harry's tone was even more frantic than when he had told me his confession.

I figured going over it again and again from this morning must have escalated his level of anxiety to newer heights.

My father offered Harry a gentle smile, watching him unfold onto his own fears before leaning forward to ease them away.

"Well, your sister is right Harry, you are not capable of something so wicked," he let that sink into Harry's mind, telling him offhandedly that he considered Harry as his own despite all of our mixed backgrounds, and second that he supported the notion Harry was good at heart. "And I do have a suggestion to ease your mind since I'm sure you're going to believe me as much as you did with Marnie's reassurances. Why don't you go and talk to Ginny about it?"

"Ginny?" Harry sounded perplexed at this suggestion but I only shook my head at myself, annoyed I hadn't thought of it before.

"Yes, well she was possessed by You Know Who wasn't she? If anyone, I'm sure she will have the most success getting through to you."

Harry finally looked more relieved than I had seen him in a while, even before this whole near miss with Mr. Weasley.

"I want to let you two get to bed, and I'm sure you might talk to Ginny before hand. But I want to clear the air here. As far as I am concerned, you two are always my top priority and as such, my part in the Order is to do what I can to support you. Harry, you more so than Marnie, are inexplicably at the center of all this and so there is always speculation, even in the Order." My father sighed, showing a sudden air of frustration before he collected himself and let it slide. "There has been mention of you being possessed since we know you're not a Seer and there are very few other explanations at this point. But, I am certain you are not possessed Harry, which I am sure Ginny will confirm for you. Which brings me to my next point, that Dumbledore finally told us very recently that you experience dreams as well Marnie."

My father's face looked hurt, like he didn't like learning of something so significant from within the Order instead of me coming to him personally.

"Erm—yea I've gotten them for a while now actually," I figured being honest was the least I owed my father at this point.

"Yes, Dumbledore said as much. Moody and the others are very keen to talk to you about it, but I told them to put it off for at least a night which Remus and Molly agreed."

"I don't really know what I can tell them, but I'll answer any of their questions."

My father pursed his lips and nodded, deciding that he shouldn't bring up such a heavy topic when I must look utterly exhausted and this was the first time we had really talked since I left for school. I wanted to show my father how much better I had gotten, but this look probably wasn't showing it.

"Alright, well I am always here for you two, same as Remus and now Sirius. We all want what's best for you, so don't keep us in the dark so much," my father smiled through his pained eyes which only made me get up and envelope him into a reassuring hug.

When I stepped back, I saw Harry standing looking awkward. This didn't faze my father who extended his hand like a handshake for Harry to accept. Harry took it rather awkwardly, but immediately my father gently pulled him into an embrace, one Harry accepted gratefully as I watched his shoulders relax.

When I exited the room a moment later, I waved both Harry and my father goodnight. Harry seemed to be put at ease since he decided to talk to Ginny in the morning instead. This ended up being a good call since Ginny already had the lights out when I snuck in, deposited my clothes onto the floor until I was just in a t-shirt and boxer cut shorts and fell onto my bed. Again, a cloud of dust emitted, something I could smell more than see, but that didn't stop me from burrowing under the covers and falling asleep only moments after my head found the pillow.

XX

Hermione arrived Christmas Eve, after apparently a lot of convincing on her part to join her friends instead of staying with her parents. I felt sympathy for her that her parents couldn't be brought into this mismatch family, but it was probably best all things considered. I also couldn't blame her for wanting to see Mr. Weasley herself since we couldn't really tell her anything in a letter.

"Need help with those?" I asked that afternoon after Hermione and I helped Mrs. Weasley clean up after breakfast.

Mrs. Weasley was already busy on putting together dinner for this evening's feast, something that seemed much more dangerous to get caught in the crossfire of so Hermione and I made our polite but hasty retreat.

Sirius turned around just to give me a warm, welcoming smile.

"Didn't think you were much of one for Christmas decorating, since you decided to become as broody as Harry," Sirius's smirk was meant to be provoking so I gave him a rueful smile in return.

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't doing it wrong," I smirked back but Sirius was even better at banter than the twins.

"Don't worry, I made sure to carefully place mistletoe in strategic, semi-private nooks throughout the house," his expression was more like a challenge, showing his victory when I felt my blush appear suddenly and deeply.

"Didn't think you would be one to encourage teenaged trysts, especially remembering the last time you broke me and my boyfriend apart by growling like a bloody Grimm," I replied, remembering the time Sirius happened upon Cedric and I in Hogsmeade before I knew he was an animagus let alone wrongfully accused.

"Right, well I will admit that despite everything, that boy rubbed me the wrong way. Ron did conveniently fill me in though on your newest relationship and I have to say Fred is a man after my own heart."

I was taken aback by Sirius's approval of my new relationship but of course he kept the mood light.

"That doesn't mean I won't be keeping an eye on him either," Sirius's grin was suggestive but held a more serious note that I knew not to take lightly.

"I'll keep that in mind, but for right now I'll help you with the tinsel," I replied, eyeing the large mound of shimmery strands mounded behind him on the coffee table.

Sirius returned with a gleeful smile before we set to work covering all of the respectable surfaces in the house with ornaments meant to spread the Christmas cheer. I knew that both Sirius and I had been rather moody lately, known even for sudden outbursts of frustration and annoyance, but it seemed Christmas had lightened us both considerably to the point where our family was willing to stop walking on egg shells around us.

The next morning was filled with even more excitement. Sirius was nearly flitting around after we finished breakfast and exchanged gifts. The Weasleys plus Harry and I were sporting new sweaters, mine being the obligatory orange to match my eyes. My dad had pitched in with Sirius and Remus to give me a very heavy and ornate book called Spotting Britain's Dark Creatures and the Appropriate Counter Defences. I was all too eager to curl up in the drawing room to start reading it with Harry's assortment of chocolates and sweets he had given me. I knew some of them weren't sold at Honeydukes so I wondered if maybe he had asked Dobby and Posy for help since the collection was quite substantial. My answer was received when I allowed myself to try one of the carrot cupcakes and saw the frosting was drawn in a slightly messy heart shape. I smiled at the join effort and the thought that I would put a preserving charm on them so I could spend more days holed up studying than going down for every meal. Despite the twins laissez faire attitude on their studies, I was feeling the pressure of our NEWT year same as all our other friends.

I was surprised however when George also handed me a sack full of goodies, most I recognised as the products him and Fred had perfected. I wasn't thrilled about the break in our pact of no gifts since I hadn't bought anything to give to either of the twins but George brushed off my worries with ease. It was Fred however who sent my nerves flying when he gave me a suggestive look telling me he was eager to collect the gift he had previously suggested.

I was thankfully spared the intimate Christmas kiss however when Mrs. Weasley announced we would be heading to the hospital to see Mr. Weasley again. I figured I would also stop in to see my mother once we arrived and then deadpanned that Fred and George might want to come along as well.

This thought nagged at the back of my mind; my private nature showing through even though I had confessed most of my secrets at this point to the twins. Obviously they already knew about my mother, but I had never actually pictured them ever meeting her. Everyone else was upbeat and excited as we followed Mad-Eye Moody in his off kilter bowler's hat and Tonks with her fuchsia hair. However, my mild panic didn't go unnoticed by Fred who beat me to the punch with even confessing my anxiety.

"Hare, I was thinking. If it's alright, can we go and visit your mother?" Fred's comment was heard by most of the group as we made our way towards Mr. Weasley's room.

"That sounds like a nice idea," my father exclaimed, smiling his assent towards th situation that I no longer felt I had a choice in denying. "Why don't you and Fred go see if your mother is up for visitors and I can stop by with Harry and anybody else who wants to see her afterwards?"

"Right, okay."

Fred didn't let my trepidation get him down, but instead grabbed onto my hand and walked back towards the lift. George and a few others waved us off before we disappeared around the corner and they continued on to Mr. Weasley's room. The time in the lift and short walk to my mother's door allowed my nerves to summit, so I was only brought back when I heard Fred's soft voice beside me.

"You look a lot like her."

I smiled despite all the nerves, because like Harry was used to hearing that he looked like his father with his mother's eyes, I was the epitome of my mother. Fred allowed himself to be patient while we waited for my mother to notice she had visitors before we entered the room.

I didn't want Fred to have to witness one of her rare fits, so I let my mother decide if she was up for visitors or not. However, this was easily decided when she looked up with a large smile and waved at us with both hands. She remained silent as ever but her greeting was warm nonetheless.

"You can talk if you want, but she usually doesn't say much," I warned Fred, ever the conversationalist.

But Fred took everything in stride, allowing himself to pull up the chair my father usually sat in and let my mother show him some of the Christmas cards that sat on her table. I had no idea who they would be from, but then thought it was probably a project carried out by the hospital volunteers.

"Hey mum, this is Fred Weasley," I introduced him, watching as my mother only smiled at this information.

If Fred was nervous, he didn't show it as we spent the next hour in light conversation with the extension for my mother to say anything if she felt like it. Part of me was waiting for her to recognise Fred for his uncles, but that was futile since she never recognised me or my father as her own family. Remus and Harry had never stirred up any recognition either. So Fred was only another reminder that my mother would never get her mind back, but somehow I felt it reassuring that he was here anyways. It actually wasn't until I heard a soft knock on the door and looked up to see Harry and dad looking thoughtful that Fred and I retreated to go and see his father.

"She's in really good spirits today," I told my father who nodded and then let Harry lead in Hermione, Ron, Ginny and George into the room.

Dad stayed in the door to survey but smiled when my mother lit up at all the company in her room.

Fred and I continued back towards the lift. I let him comfortably take my hand even as we stood waiting for the lift to arrive.

"Thank-you for introducing me. I know you're very protective of her, same as your father and Harry," I could hear the sincerity in his voice and the sympathy in his eyes that looked thoughtfully back at me.

Without meaning to, I stepped forward and brought my hands to both sides of Fred's face. I had so many things I wanted to admit to him, to convey how important the moment had been. This was the most private part of my life and now it seemed like he knew everything. I watched his eyes steadily as I closed the distance between us, only closing my eyes at the very last second. When my lips touched his, it was chaste but meaningful. His lips were soft and warm and only a little parted. I leaned forward even more, tasting his minty breath as I let my lips part only slightly to breathe him in for myself. The moment felt intense but my hands remained only on his face while his stayed at his sides, most likely out of surprise. When I finally pulled away at the sound of the lift I smiled at the sight of Fred's blazing cheeks and breathless expression. It wasn't the deep, passionate snog Fred had obviously been hoping for, but it still left me breathless and warm all the same.

"Happy Christmas Fred," I said softly, stepping into the lift with him.

"Happy Christmas love."


	70. Return to Hogwarts

"Wouldn't it be better just to stay here?" George said on the last day before we were due to go back to the school.

I shot him an appraising look. "Angelina said you two would say something like that."

George seemed taken aback by this, turning his head to look down at the bed with heightened interest. I could still however see the blush forming over his cheeks.

"We did want to try out a few more products, like the Headless Hats Georgie," Fred easily intercepted with a grin.

"You figured the charm out then?" I looked up in surprise, knowing they had been working on that one for nearly a year.

"Yea, they're really something. George and I wanted to make sure our other products did well, instead of just the Skiving Snackboxes."

"Right, well there's only one term left before school is over. Doesn't seem much sense in staying back now," I replied but both of the twins looked a little uneasy.

"I guess Marnie, but I mean without quidditch and dealing with old toad face every day, school isn't really fun anymore," George's reply made it seem that maybe the twins actually had been considering ditching school early.

"You really think about not coming back?" I was too surprised to know how I actually felt if they didn't come back.

I didn't want to be the new clingy girlfriend, but the twins had been my best friends since the very first day. Hogwarts certainly wouldn't be the same without them.

"We are coming back, mum would lose her mind if we didn't go with you all tomorrow. If we start thinking about it again, you'll be the first to know Hare," Fred smiled but I frowned thinking that they hadn't told me the first time they obviously talked about it.

But I didn't want to argue when Sirius was already seeming moodier now that we were leaving and Mrs. Weasley would surely lose it on the twins if she found out why we were arguing I the first place.

The next day my mood felt sour, now that I had been stewing about the twins possibly leaving me to go open their shop sooner than June. Plus I felt guilty that Sirius would be cooped up again and Umbridge would no doubt have it out for me. The only thing I was happy for was that I didn't have to take Occlumency like Harry did, even though my father had advocated that I take it as well. But apparently Dumbledore had specified only Harry, not filling either of us in on the reasoning.

"Cheer up Marnie! We get to take the Knight Bus!" George pulled my arm as the lot of us crammed out of Grimmauld Place with our trunks.

Sirius and dad had already given us their goodbyes whereas Remus, Tonks, and Moody were accompanying us until we got to the school. Moody was as snarky as ever and I ended up sitting with the twins and Tonks at the back of the bus. I didn't even see my father at the end of the road as we took off at a blinding pace into the city. I keeled over, pressing my head to the cold window for some sort of reprieve.

"Hare, do you get motion sick?" Fred smiled wickedly but still took my hand in his.

"Of course not, this bus is just a death trap is all," I snapped, closing my eyes against the next wave of nausea as the driver took a sharp turn around something it probably otherwise would have hit.

I kept my eyes closed, wishing we could have used the Floo back but not having the will to voice my concerns. Thankfully, the bus took much less time than the train so when we arrived it was still daylight.

"Come on Hare," Fred pulled me gently out of my seat and I fought back against the instinct to heave onto the floor.

Tonks, Remus and Moody escorted us all the way to the wards of the school. I managed to hug Remus one last time without throwing up on his shoes and then let the twins guide me back to the castle. When we all finally entered the common room I kept going all the way up to the seventh year girl's dorm and flopped down onto my bed. Much like I had the first night at Grimmauld Place, I deposited my clothes at the foot of my bed and dove under the covers wearing my t-shirt and boxers again. Thankfully, I fell asleep before the girls even came back and didn't wake up until the early hours of the morning.

XX

"Look at this," Harry muttered, tossing a copy of the Prophet at me before I could even take my seat for breakfast.

The twins shot Harry an appraising look, already weary of him that he hadn't been very excited about the product display the night before for the Headless Hats. Since Harry was their main investor, the twins always kept him appraised of their products and Harry always seemed willing to oblige. But his mood about whatever Voldemort was up to seemed to sour the last of his Christmas spirit, turning him back into his broody self.

"Merlin's beard," I gasped, falling more into my seat than intentionally sitting down as I looked at the front cover.

Looking back were several head shots of prisoners who had been locked up since the first war as Voldemort's most loyal followers. I swallowed thickly, seeing the woman who had tortured my mother looking maniacal in her prisoner's uniform.

Among the prisoners to escape was Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted Death Eater for the torture of Aurors Alice and Frank Longbottom, along with Ministry Worker Lena O'Hara.

My mother's name stared boldly back at me, quickly drawing me into a fit of rage.

"They're out. They're all out!" my voice raised a little hysterically, this not being something I was ready for when I decided to come down for breakfast.

Of course I hadn't been foolish enough to delude myself that a prison break wouldn't happen, especially since we had heard it through the extendable ears that the Ministry no longer had control over the prison's guards. But I really wasn't ready to face the fact that the woman who took my mother away from me had dutifully returned to Voldemort's side.

Fred grabbed the paper from my hand. He wasn't usually interested in the goings on outside the school since him and George were more determined to fill the darkening world with laughter. But my alarming reaction caused his concern to pique. I looked down to see my hands were shaking, but Fred's hands crumpled the sides of the paper with his fists as he held on tightly.

"Bloody hell!" Fred's temper was evident, but he had the mind to keep his voice lowered.

I had also seen the picture of Antonin Dolohov and the listed names of Fred and George's uncles listed as his most well known victims.

I didn't say another word and instead got up quickly from my place and darted out of the Great Hall. I could hear Angelina and Fred calling out for me to wait, but my feet had already quickened to match my heart beat's pace. It wasn't until I heard an ever too familiar voice commenting from several feet behind me that I finally stopped. "O'Hara, that seems to be a popular name today,"

My shoulders tensed with the realisation that he had probably been watching me, waiting for my reaction to the information he had also recently learned. I had always kept the condition of my mother close to my chest, and this was exactly the reason why. Now, thanks to Fudge and his idiocy, and the ever indulging reporters at the Prophet, my secret was out.

"Lena O'Hara. That wouldn't happen to be your mum now would it?" Flint's voice was full of a sick sense of enjoyment and satisfaction.

I turned around, fingers thrumming against my wand in my pocket. I was too livid to think of something to say, but Flint took this as a sign of discomfort.

"The dirty squib grew up with a useless father and a cracked mother. Throw in The Boy Who Lived and your blood traitorous boyfriend and what hope did you ever have?" Flint's eyes were gleaming in satisfaction but my hands were the only willing part of my body to react.

Instantly, my wand was out, having taken Flint by surprise. He was expecting to make me cower and cry over the revelation of my mother, but I was only pissed off. It was nobody's bloody business to bring up my mother or my family, but it was certainly the Ministry's bloody responsibility to keep all of the crackpots locked up in Azkaban.

"Confringo!" my spell hit right onto Flint's chest and sent him sailing through the air.

But I didn't feel satisfied that I had finally made Flint shut the hell up or that I sent the message that I was much more capable than the little girl he decided to target and bully in our first year.

I did however draw a lot of attention since the reverberation of my spell and Flint's sailing body had made quite a lot of noise. I stood rooted in place, waiting for my anger to ebb away that was still floating through my mind.

"Marnie, what happened?" Fred and George came dashing out of the Great Hall, looking concerned like I wasn't the one who cast the first and only attack.

But before I could answer I heard the ever too familiar hem hem and knew I was caught. Twenty minutes later, after a very heated lecture, I was walking torridly towards McGonagall's office. Umbridge had got on my last nerve but the tiny voice in the back of my head was telling me that if I reacted now I would only make it worse; but I didn't know if I really cared much anymore. I didn't listen too closely to find out.

"O'Hara, you are lucky Dumbledore has decided to step forward and allow for you to stay at Hogwarts. You only have one term left, so don't mess it up on something as trivial as finally giving into the taunts of one Marcus Flint," McGonagall's lecture was severe but I knew it was justified so I kept my eyes staring forward in compliance. "You are lucky Mr. Flint only sustained somewhat mild injuries that Madam Pomfrey can easily rectify. Be thankful you had enough sense to hold back or the situation could have been much more severe."

"Yes professor," I agreed, not having any defense or justification for my actions despite my irrational anger.

I agreed with all Professor McGonagall was saying, only waiting for her to dole out her own punishment. Two weeks detention with Umbridge was brutal all in itself, but McGonagall couldn't see the permanent scar I had under my sleeve.

"Two weeks detention with me, to be completed after the two weeks with Professor Umbridge."

McGonagall continued with her pointed stare and I nodded that it seemed a suitable punishment for sending a potentially life threatening spell onto an annoying bully. But my simple agreeance seemed to do something to McGonagall's glowering gaze. I heard a sigh and looked up to see some of the previous anger turn to something resembling concern.

"O'Hara, I know you've had a time of it lately. And seeing your mother's name in the paper for the whole world to see is very trying. But if you are to pick up your mother's mantel after you leave Hogwarts, then you need to learn how to control your anger and emotions. Something you and Potter both apparently need to work on."

"Yes professor," I replied, but this time with a small nod and smile.

"Now get out, and don't let me see you outside of class and this round of detention until graduation."

"How did it go?" Fred asked, being one of many who looked up as I entered the common room.

"Four weeks of detention, two with Umbridge and two with McGonagall."

"Merlin's beard, that's a record!" Lee sounded almost triumphant, causing Katie to elbow him in the ribs.

"You're lucky you didn't get expelled," Hermione pursed her lips.

"Flint bloody well deserved it, he's been going after Marnie since our first day," George eagerly defended me, with a glint in his eyes that told me he wished he had seen it himself.

"Still, Harry has the same issue with Malfoy. You shouldn't be giving Umbridge or anyone else the satisfaction. She's really gearing towards trying to expel you and Harry, you should be more careful," Hermione pushed her reasoning.

"Malfoy would bloody well deserve it too though," Ron added, giving Harry a shared look but Harry looked too frustrated to notice.

"Alright, well I'm going to go up and study. At least I have a lesser chance of pissing off Umbridge if I hole up in my room," I shrugged, ignoring the looks everyone gave me and retreated upstairs.

Once I was upstairs on my bed I opened my Defense book, hating that I would have to understand this theoretical nonsense if I wanted to pass my NEWT. I remembered back to the last time reading Defense textbooks had been maddening, which was when I started taking my books out to the quidditch pitch and would run into Cedric. At this memory I threw my book aside and laid down, suddenly feeling how heavy my eyelids felt. Without much effort to fight it, I fell asleep and let the world fade away.

"Marnie? You're studying again?" I looked up to see Cedric's smiling face.

"I have to pass my OWLs Ced," I stuck my tongue out at him but the back of my mind seemed to have a fuzzy recollection that I needed to pass my NEWTs instead.

"Come on, it's a Hogsmeade weekend. Let me take you out on a date," Cedric's grin was just as contagious as ever and I watched it as he carefully took the book out of my hands and put it off to the side.

It disappeared in an instant and as soon as I stood up my feet stepped onto the gravel road on the way to Hogsmeade instead of the floor of the library. I looked up to see the village set below us and latched onto Cedric's arm, relishing in his warmth and company.

"I love you Marnie," he said warmly and I smiled up at him. But his expression was more serious and I felt like maybe I couldn't say it back to him anymore. "I mean it Marnie, I'll protect you from anything."

"I don't want you to," I felt panic well up in my chest, watching as Cedric stepped forward in front of me like he was blocking me from something.

I pulled on his arm but it felt like his feet were planted into the ground.

"Avada Kedavra!" a shriek let out and I watched as Cedric's body fell to the ground and his skin turned cold under my touch.

I screamed, bending down protectively over his body. But there was laughter from someone standing in front of me and I looked up into the face of Bellatrix Lestrange, looking just like she did in her wanted poster. She was laughing and waving her wand around triumphantly and all I could do was wrap myself protectively over Cedric. The last thing I saw was her wand turning onto me and a jet of green aimed right for my chest.

I woke up with a start, shaking and already feeling the tears of seeing Cedric like that. I looked around the room through my blurry vision and when I confirmed I was still alone I sobbed into my pillow until I fitfully fell back into a dreamless sleep.


	71. Bleeding Hearts

After the news torrented through the school about the mass prison escape, Umbridge came up with a new rule to stop the students from even asking questions.

"Mr. Weasley's, refocus your attention at once!" Umbridge's voice snapped from the front of the classroom but I didn't bother to look up since I already knew the twins were playing exploding snap.

Lee smartly put his hand into the air and I gave him a sideways glance to tell him that he was flirting with disaster to goad her even more than the twins already were. But Umbridge called on Lee anyway and he proceeded to tell her that she wasn't allowed to stop the twins since it went against her new rule of the teacher's not discussing anything other than class material with the students.

"So, you're joining me for detention tonight?" I smirked at Lee while he only frowned.

By now all my friends knew about the scars on my hand so Lee knew what he had landed himself in. He didn't say anything about it though, I guess knowing how many times I had gone through the medieval torture of detention with our Defense teacher, so he trudged along quietly that night as we made our way to her classroom.

I thought Umbridge might make some snide remark to Lee about us being friends but she seemed pleased enough by Lee's soft whimpers. I cringed inwardly, thinking she must really have a penchant for torturing students since she never looked this satisfied when it was just me. I figured it must be since I never made a peep whenever I was in this room writing lines in my own blood.

"How the hell do you do it Marnie? She's sick that woman, and you've been here for almost a month's worth of detentions when you put it all together," Lee rubbed his hand gingerly as we made our way back to the common room just before curfew.

"I just don't want to give her any satisfaction. And I know it's stupid but getting under her skin is satisfying for me. I know I piss her off so I'll take the scars that come along with it," I replied honestly and saw a look of admiration pass over Lee's face as we came up to the fat lady's portrait.

Lee gaped a little but we went over to the couches where our friends were all sitting before Lee could come up with a response.

Katie had two bowls of Murtlap waiting and we each graciously took one. Fred's eyes stared at the dried blood ebbing into the milky liquid but he had since stopped saying anything since he knew I would just roll my eyes. But his worries had become more evident since my hand now looked even worse than Harry's and I never seemed too overly put off by this. I only ever got upset whenever someone else landed themselves in detention.

I watched Katie fuss over Lee and he let her, probably playing it up a bit more for her affections. I rolled my eyes at this but neither of them noticed.

"So you want to watch their practice with us tomorrow?" George spoke from beside me and I nodded absentmindedly.

I had no idea what day tomorrow was but remembered Angelina mentioning she was holding a practice. The days mixed together in my mind, filled mostly with studying and classes, with my detention always at the end.

"Ange, can't you hold practice on Sunday instead? It's both Valentine's Day and a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow," Lee whined but Katie scolded him.

Despite Angelina being as put out as Oliver had been two years ago, both of the other girls took quidditch just as seriously, especially with the loss over three of their teammates since the last game.

"Right, tomorrow is Saturday," I stated instead of repeating what Lee had just said.

I looked over at Fred, expecting to see that he had also forgot that tomorrow was Valentine's Day but he just shrugged.

"Valentine's Day is just an overpriced excuse for snogging Lee," Fred scoffed and I smiled back at him.

I truthfully hadn't given it much thought, but my shortness of breath told me I didn't want to participate in any of the festivities.

"I wish everyone thought of it that way," Harry flopped down in front of the fire looking rather dejected at hearing Fred's comment.

"Trouble with that girl of yours?" Fred arched his eyebrows and smirked.

Harry grimaced, looking like he was fighting against how he really wanted to answer. This was the first time I had seen Harry looking anything other than dumbfound at the mention of Cho, so I allowed myself to pique in hopeful interest; I really was the worst sister whenever it came to Cho Chang.

"Let me guess, you got roped into going to Madam Puddifoot's tomorrow," George smirked and Fred's eyes lit up mischievously.

Harry's grimace was enough confirmation, sending both twins into howls of laughter. In turn, Harry was annoyed and sulked off before anyone could give him any more grief.

XX

The next day I woke up feeling hollow but pushed it down while ignoring all the love struck couples holding hands and hurrying with breakfast before they headed down to Hogsmeade. I was happy Fred didn't seem fazed by the date and made no effort to show any more displays of affection than was normal.

"Alright you lot, down on the pitch in five," Angelina ordered before she got up to head out with Alicia and Katie following her.

Lee scowled but didn't voice his obvious annoyance by the situation since Katie didn't seem to share his sentiments that they would be missing out on Valentine's Day.

When Ron finally got up to leave I saw Harry bow his head and then trudge over to the Ravenclaw table towards a very eager looking Cho who was obviously waiting for him. I turned my head and let Fred lead me out after Lee and George since the four of us decided to watch the practice in lieu of going to Hogsmeade. It was a little disappointing to think that the four of us might have outgrown the excitement of visiting Hogsmeade but the truth was that we had gone so many times that it didn't hold as much excitement as before. Plus, seeing all the couples wasn't something I really wanted to do.

However watching the Gryffindor quidditch practice wasn't much better when it ended with Angelina in near tears.

"Well… that was a bloody disaster," George bowed his hand and Fred and I could only nod in agreeance.

The two new beaters were noticeably amateur, especially when I knew how seamless the twins always carried out their maneuvers. Ron also carried his self-doubt plainly and once the first goal went in he didn't save any of the others that the girls tossed his way, even when they let up a little.

We ran into Harry and Hermione on our way into the school and Hermione let on that there was going to be a DA meeting since it was less conspicuous to meet up with all the couples idling around the school and other students coming back from Hogsmeade.

I perked at this, wanting a distraction from the dull aching in my chest that I hadn't been able to shake since yesterday. Fred squeezed my hand which brought me back to the present and I wondered if he knew just how uncomfortable I had been all day. But he remained quiet and his typical cheerful self all the way up to the Room of Requirement. Harry was already in there but I found it surprising that he was standing separate from an emotional looking Cho. Before I could stop myself, I let a soft smile cross my face but neither of them were paying much attention to me to notice.

Angelina's eyes were a little puffy when she entered with Katie and Alicia a little later on, but none of us mentioned what we were all obviously thinking. It wouldn't be helpful to state to Angelina just how awful the practice had been just like I didn't want to be told just how obviously I wanted this day to be over.

"Alright everyone, I thought we could try a more advanced spell today," Harry got everyone's attention right off the bat.

They hung off his every word as he explained how to perform a Patronus before letting everyone split off and try it for themselves. I watched carefully as a few of the upper class men, including Alicia, cast a non-corporeal Patronus on their first try. I doubted whether I could muster enough happiness, remembering being attacked by hundreds of dementors in my fifth year while trying to save Sirius. Today my mind tugged even more with my grief but I had never cast a corporeal Patronus and suddenly I felt I had something to prove.

First, I thought of all the pranks I had ever pulled off with the twins and the feeling I always got whenever it was the three of us together.

" _Expecto Patronum,"_ a white mist emitted from the end of my wand and I frowned.

As soon as I felt disappointed the wisps disappeared. I ignored Fred's encouragement and refocused my thoughts, effectively forgetting that I had been missing Cedric all day.

Next I thought of the day Harry came to live with us, how happy I had been when he agreed to have me for a sister. The looks of pure joy on my father's face that first Christmas and how natural it felt having Harry in our home ever since that first Christmas.

" _Expecto Patronum,"_ the white mist started to take shape but it was still too hazy to make out the creature it was trying to turn into. It was small and rose into the air but it didn't hold out before dissolving into wisps once more.

I inhaled deeply, knowing I was getting close and steeling myself for opening my mind to the memories I could feel rising up against my resolve.

Like a small shove inside my brain, I let myself think of the familiar pair of caramel eyes framed under light brown hair. His smile was clear in my mind and I felt a tear fall down my cheek. I concentrated my mind and remembered the happiness I shared with Cedric, how he taught me how to fall in love and care for someone so completely. Whereas my relationship with Fred was founded on a fierce sense of loyalty, mine with Cedric had been gradual and easy. I knew I loved Fred, maybe more that I should at this age during this time, but loving Cedric had been effortless and I missed that. I missed laughing and forgetting my worries whenever we were with one another. I remembered falling asleep with Aster on my chest and always being reminded of him. I remembered dancing with him at the Yule Ball and falling asleep in the heat of his arms. As painful as my grief was, I let the happiness I felt with Cedric fill me up with contentment and remind me that it was okay to remember him with good thoughts. This way, I felt less guilty being with Fred and could let myself love someone else since it was something entirely different. Being in love with Cedric was effortless and comfortable, being in love with Fred was fiery and certain.

I opened my eyes, seeing his caramel eyes disappear on my eyelids, and smiled.

" _Expecto Patronum!"_

A hummingbird took off from the end of my wand and I smiled in sheer joy at seeing it. It's wings reminded me of a fairy, making me remember how Cedric always called me a fairy and of how Aster's wings felt whenever I pet them.

"Wow, Hare! You've got it!" Fred exclaimed proudly as he, George and Ginny came over to watch it.

The small bird flew around the room, mimicking the flighty nature of an actual humming bird before it disappeared back into the tip of my wand.

"That's really good Mar!" Angelina came over, looking more at ease than she had all day.

Maybe being forced to focus on happy memories was as therapeutic for her as it had been for me.

"Alright everyone, really good job today!" Harry's voice cut over the excitement and I realised it must be nearing curfew.

Everyone congregated around Harry to ask about the next meeting and then wait for him to give them the go ahead to leave in pairs. I wanted to talk to Harry about his interview with Rita Skeeter that I hadn't really allowed myself to think about but was interrupted when I was intercepted by the last person I wanted to talk to. Her eyes looked moist and I started to panic that I might actually have to comfort her and was wholly unprepared for what I could even say.

"Isn't it just awful, your first Valentine's without Cedric," Cho choked up and I couldn't fathom why she was bringing this up to me or why she was surprisingly sad about this particular issue.

All the excitement I felt at casting a Patronus died on my lips as my stomach lurched. My knees shook and I clenched my fists and stuffed them into my pockets. Valentine's Day had never been a big deal, especially since in my fourth year it was the day I was petrified by a gigantic snake. But here she was voicing the one thing I didn't want to hear today; a reminder that my ex-boyfriend was dead.

"Chang, what the hell did you just say to her?" I was brought back out of my thoughts feeling Fred's hand on my shoulder.

I was a little surprised he knew I was upset but then I realised just how badly I was shaking despite my lack of tears.

"I heard her, she just bloody well brought up Cedric," Ron came forward with his face flushed in anger.

I had a hard time focusing and saw Harry behind Ron looking disgusted. Wasn't Cho supposed to be ogling over my brother instead of bringing up Cedric. Of course most of the school had some sort of emotional reaction to losing Cedric, even on sheer fear alone that a student had died at Hogwarts. But how Cho was saying it was like she was the one with a dead boyfriend and it was too much for me to comprehend, especially when the Ravenclaw seeker had been nothing but petty to me before now.

"Back off Chang!" another unexpected voice came to my aid and I felt him clasp his hand almost protectively over my shoulder. "You have no idea what it's like to love someone this much and lose them. You can pretend all you want that losing a crush is the same thing but Marnie and Cedric went out for over a year, so back the hell off."

His hand was firm on my shoulder and then I was being dragged out with him before I found my voice. He was visibly shaken and I could see just how angry he was. I didn't know exactly why he was responding like this, but it was an agreement between us that no one, except maybe Harry who was present at the time of the murder, really understood our level of loss.

Liam didn't wait for Harry's all clear, but it was just us with Natalie steps behind us so it wouldn't look out of the ordinary. Except for the fact that I hadn't hung out with them since last year.

"Liam, you alright?" Natalie voiced her concern when we were in the Entrance Hall, the half-way point between our two common rooms.

"Sorry," Liam seemed to snap out of his heated anger at the sound of his girlfriend's voice and finally let go of my shoulder.

It was slightly painful where he had been holding onto me but I let that pain ground me out of the flooding thoughts running through my mind.

"Marnie, how about you? That girl is a bloody nuisance, this isn't the first time she's said something in front of us but nothing like this before," Natalie's eyes were full of concern and I realised how much I missed her company.

She had always been kind and talking with her was always easy.

"It's alright," I shrugged, choking out the couple of words.

"Hare?" I heard my name being called out from the top of the stairs before seeing Fred run down them two at a time. "Everything okay?"

His eyes stared at me and waited for my answer. I found I couldn't really talk with all my flooding thoughts so I nodded and let him pull me into an embrace. I could tell from the direction we were standing that Fred was looking at Natalie and Liam.

"Newton," Fred called Liam by his last name. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Fred's words were unexpected and I couldn't see either his or Natalie's reaction from the confines of Fred's chest. I had wondered before just how Fred deals with my loss over Cedric since they really hadn't been very close. So maybe this was Fred acknowledging that there was someone more attuned to understanding it than him, and he had to respect that.

No one answered right away but I finally heard Liam clear his throat before he spoke.

"We all have to look out for each other right?" Liam sounded less emotional than I would have thought and I wondered if Natalie had helped him to heal just as much as Fred had helped me.

"Yea, that's why we're part of the DA," Fred sounded solemn but sincere and I wrapped my arms tighter around him.

Nothing more was said and I couldn't bring myself to feel self-conscious since Fred's arms felt so comforting around me. Shortly after I heard two sets of retreating footsteps and I wondered if I would be seeing more of them in the future or if Liam and I would continue with our original agreement.

"Let's go to bed," Fred whispered in my ear after a while and I only nodded again.

To anyone else this probably sounded inappropriate but I knew Fred was only being supportive and wouldn't let me deal with this alone tonight. But a part of me even wondered if Fred also needed to be supportive right now, to feel my love in return when someone else had brought up Cedric and my relationship right in front of him.

I clasped his hand tightly and hoped it conveyed everything I couldn't say. Using Cedric's memory for the Patronus had allowed me to let go of him a little more and accept that I loved Fred in an undeniable way that even made me want to move on, however slowly.


	72. Departing Legends

The next few weeks at Hogwarts completely dampened everyone's moods. The only positive thing to happen was the day after Valentine's Day when Harry started receiving hundreds of letters about the interview he had done for the Quibbler. Apparently my father had even been in on Hermione's idea and helped edit the article before it was published in Mr. Lovegood's paper. I was excited too when Luna came up to me and said it was the number one issue they had ever published and was going into a second print.

But of course Umbridge made a rule banning the purchase or reading of the Quibbler which no one really listened to anyway. The worst though came after, when Umbridge made a public spectacle of Professor Trelawney being fired and her screams rebounded throughout the castle walls.

xx

"He's actually quite something. You guys are probably upset now that none of you got an OWL in Divination," Lee gloated for not the first time at being the only one in our friend group to have Firenze for a teacher.

All of us were seated around a table in the library and mostly ignored Lee by studying. Our NEWTs were quickly approaching now and I was in full preparation mode. Of course I was anxious but refused to be one of the ones who broke down. So far only a couple of the fifth years had needed a Calming Draught and were followed out of either the library or Great Hall by a concerned professor.

"Seriously you two, you're not even studying!" Angelina fumed, noticing that the papers in front of Fred and George were for their products and not for class.

This was nothing new, so I figured that maybe Angelina was just feeling more of the pressure with quidditch as well as her studies and was now taking it out on the cavalier nature of the twins.

"Ange, we already know everything of use to us," George replied, not even looking up from the task he was doing.

"We already have a spot lined up for the shop so we need to be ready to open as soon as we leave," Fred added, he too not looking up from their work.

I did however feel Fred's hand find my knee under the table as he gave it a reassuring squeeze. Hearing either twin talk about their lack of studies was nothing I worried about anymore since I had always vowed to support their idea of a joke shop. However I was keenly aware now of their lack of overall interest in school and their wanting to get out into the real world as soon as possible.

"We better get going for the DA meeting," George spoke again a minute later, being the only one (aside from maybe Fred) who had been keeping tabs on the time.

I stuffed all my books into my rucksack which I had needed to put an extension charm on, but Fred took it before I could sling it over my shoulder.

"Erm—thanks," I replied nervously, still always taken aback whenever Fred was being charming.

Our friendship had always been an equal one. I was never treated any different because I was a girl, so when Fred treated me as his _girl_ friend, I found it accentuated the new difference in our relationship even more now; not that I necessarily minded. A charming Fred definitely kept me on my toes.

"Today's the day," Fred sounded determined since we figured Harry would have us practicing our Patronus charms again.

I loved practicing, letting my hummingbird flit around the room, forcing myself to think of happy thoughts instead of the impending doom of exams and war.

I found conjuring my Patronus was a lot easier now, letting myself think mostly about Fred.

xx

"You're not thinking of something good enough," I prompted Fred gently when we were standing in the Room of Requirement practicing our spells.

His look of frustration told me he wasn't focusing solely on something happy anymore so it wasn't surprising that he wasn't able to conjure it.

I cast away my hummingbird and stepped forward while putting my wand into my back pocket.

"Close your eyes Fred," I prompted him gently, noticing his skeptical look but he closed his eyes nonetheless.

I put one of my hands on his wrist to bring his wand hand out into the correct form to cast the charm. Fred obviously knew what I wanted and left his gripped wand out in front of him. Then I brought both of my hands to his shoulders and felt them relax under my grip.

"Relax love. Think about something truly wonderful. Don't say it out loud, I'll see it once you cast the charm," I murmured only loud enough for him to hear.

His smile became elated and I wondered excitedly what he was thinking.

The next moment he opened his eyes in determination and cast the charm we had been practicing on and off for the past few DA meetings.

 _"_ _Expecto Patronum!"_ Fred's words were purposeful and I knew it would work before I even saw the fox erupt from his wand.

"Fred, you did it!" I exclaimed proudly as we both watched the wispy animal run around the room.

I cast my hummingbird once more and both creatures flitted around playfully, earning both of us a few annoyed stares as they bumped into some students.

"So, what did you think about?" I tried for casual but Fred's sly smile told me I wasn't fooling him.

"You of course," he answered so coolly I felt my face heat up. "That summer you and Ange came over to the Burrow."

I remembered the day he was talking about, when Angelina and I had swam with most of the Weasley's in their pond. I remembered the racing and feeling for maybe the first time a little self-conscience.

"Why, then?" I felt my eyebrows knit together in surprise but kept my gaze on our Patronuses.

"I don't know exactly. Most of my memories with you are really great, but that day I can see clearly. How happy you obviously were, it makes you so beautiful in my memory," I felt Fred's intent gaze on me now but I knew was too cherry red to want to look at him.

Being caught in my own stuttering thoughts I missed the sudden arrival of Dobby the house elf before I clued into his squeaky voice.

"She's coming?" Harry cried fearfully and I didn't need pause to figure out what that meant. "What is everyone waiting for? RUN!"

Instantly Fred gripped my wrist and pulled me towards the exit. George was tugging along Angelina behind us and the three of us led her to the secret passageway that went out to the greenhouses. Angelina didn't seem overly surprised that we knew a secret passageway. Instead the four of us waited for each of us to catch our breath before speaking. George was first.

"How the bloody hell did she find us?" George's voice was livid but we all knew that this meant the end to the DA.

My hands were trembling in anger and realised that Fred was still gripping my wrist and squeezed it as a show of his own anger.

"Come on, we should see if the others are back in the common room," Angelina surprisingly pulled George's hand and neither of them let go until we were back in the Gryffindor Tower.

"Where's Harry?" was the first thing out of my mouth but no one knew where he was.

"He was running away from Malfoy. Ron and I made it back but we lost Harry," Hermione's voice was strained in frustration.

I dropped into a vacant seat and let my head fall into my hands. The voices around me were riled up but I ignored them. The only thing I noticed was Fred sitting beside me, running his fingers lightly up and down my back in a comforting gesture. I was thankful he didn't press me to talk but I figured we were feeling similar things.

I knew this might be the last straw for the twins who were no longer interested in school. Without even the DA to placate their active minds, I knew we would be having another conversation about him and George cutting out early. Suddenly, leaving Hogwarts to return to Grimmauld Place seemed like the most logical decision but I figured I could at least wait to see Harry return.

It wasn't until an hour later that Harry came marching into the common room having been escorted by Professor McGonagall. I met her scowl from across the room and knew it was worse than I imagined before Harry trudged over to our awaiting group.

"Dumbledore's gone," were the first words Harry spoke and were met by immediate incredulity.

Several people spoke over each other, asking how Dumbledore could be gone but Harry gained everyone's attention and explained Dumbledore had taken the fall when Umbridge produced the parchment we had all signed that said _Dumbledore's Army._

"You know what this means Georgie," Fred said conspiratorially beside me with a fiery glint in his eyes after several of the Gryffindor's dispersed.

I hadn't said anything yet since I felt too angry to try and put what I was feeling into words.

"Right you are Freddie. With Dumbledore gone, there really isn't much point to following the rules anymore," George smirked back.

Both twins turned to me and gave me a meaningful look but I smiled back and finally found my voice.

"Give 'em hell you two. And that store of yours better be opened by the time I graduate," I could read their expressions and knew it was pure selfishness that wanted the twins to stay in Hogwarts with me.

But after being their best friend for seven years, I knew there was no one the twins fully listened to and that this was now important to them. They would fight against the Ministry in their own mischievous way whereas I needed to stay behind and get my diploma. I needed to prove it to all those who denied my status because of my father, to make a statement against all the prejudice I had endured, and to be able to follow my own career. Plus, there was the younger version of myself who dreamed nonstop about Hogwarts and to leave early denied her of that goal, even if it was sometimes too painful to walk the halls without Cedric; and now the twins by my side.

"You sure Hare?" Fred's eyes were sincere with George smiling proudly behind me.

I knew this divergence of ours wouldn't change our friendship and that by me accepting their decision would show them why I had claimed the position of best friend for all these years.

"Of course Fred, I love you. I love both of you," I winked at George over Fred's shoulder who playfully winked back, causing Fred to lean back and hit him.

The boys shortly went upstairs so us girls also decided to retreat to our dorm. But none of us slept very well. The girls kept going over what had happened and what we expected to find the next morning in lieu of our headmaster's sudden departure.

What we found turned my stomach enough that I didn't even attempt to eat breakfast.

 _Educational Decree Number Twenty-Eight; Dolores Jane Umbridge will now be Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as authorized by the Ministry of Magic_

This set the mood for the rest of the day.

"Best to keep your distance today Hare, we don't want you to get blamed for anything," Fred warned me as I made my way to class.

The twins had already decided that they weren't interested in attending class so were instead just escorting me. We were walking past the Room of Requirement and I frowned that their new plan meant a certain degree of separation. But I wasn't as willing to be booted out of school whereas I could see the twins were counting on it.

"The bell is about to go you three. Playing truant are you?" the twins scowled when we all turned around to see Graham Montague looking rather smug.

"We're just walking our friend to class you git," George's typical gentle button pressing was cut short by his own snide remark.

I didn't really know much about this particular Slytherin except that he played quidditch and was wearing a badge that said _Inquisitorial Squad_.

"That'll be five points for cheek Weasley. Double it because you both look similar. And ten more for your pathetic girlfriend pretending to be a witch when we all know she's really a squib," Montague's tone was derisive but I was focused on the fact that he was trying to take points away when it was only professors who could do that.

"What the hell did you just say?" Fred seethed.

Before I could figure out what the twins were doing they pushed the Slytherin into the Room of Requirement and I followed them inside.

Unlike when we were practicing with the DA, it now looked like a junk room. The twins were pushing Montague who was looking rather unsure now of the situation until they were all in front of a cabinet.

George opened the door and Fred shoved Montague in. I gaped, thinking it was childish to lock him in a cupboard when he could just get out, but after several seconds of quiet, I realised that somehow Montague was no longer in the cupboard at all.

"What did you do?" I asked skeptically but couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for the bully Slytherin.

"It's a vanishing cabinet Marnie. Wherever the other one is, that's where we sent that git," George explained like he was telling me what the elves were serving for dinner.

"Now go to class love, and I'll come find you tonight. It's best you're not around our path of destruction today," Fred smiled and kissed my cheek.

I smiled knowingly before dashing off to Transfiguration since I didn't want McGonagall to have anymore reason to lash out at me. If I was late, I'm sure it would mean at least one more detention and I did rather like my head of house despite my recent rebellious streak.

I ended up making it just in time under the watchful eye of McGonagall as I took my seat beside Angelina.

Angelina's questioning look asked where Fred and George were but I shook my head to tell her they weren't coming. Her expression looked put off but not surprised and I wondered if her and George had talked at some point last night since there were several times I wasn't aware of what had been going on.

There was a knock at the door shortly after class started and I looked back to see an amused set of eyes already staring at me. My shoulders tensed and I could see he was wearing a similar badge like Montague had been.

"Direct order from our headmistress, I'm supposed to bring O'Hara to her office," Flint announced but I remained in my seat until I heard McGonagall clear her throat.

"Don't be long O'Hara, this is an important lesson," McGonagall barked and I knew she wanted to find a reason to keep me back but I obliged Flint and followed him out of the classroom.

"Ten points O'Hara for being too slow," Flint's voice sounded eager and pleased but I didn't even chance a look over at him.

I knew that if I saw him smirk I would be tempted to hex him again and I had to remind myself I wasn't going to cross the line like the twins were.

"Five more points for your arrogance," he continued and I only hoped we made it to her office before he took away all of Gryffindor's points.

"And ten points for being a dirty squib."

He paused at Umbridge's door but I pushed by him since I knew he was stalling to think of some other excuse to take points away.

"Miss. O'Hara, five points for forgetting to knock," Umbridge trilled and I could feel Flint's smirk on my back before he was dismissed.

"Would you like a beverage?" her initial annoyance was replaced by an uneasy pleasantness.

"No thank-you, professor," I remained standing just inside the door instead of sitting down like I knew she wanted me to.

"Join me for tea Miss. O'Hara, I just made a fresh pot," she beckoned but I didn't miss the forcefulness of it.

Everything about this situation was off, especially when I knew she hated me and had never shown me any proper decency before now.

I eyed the already poured tea and immediately clued into the situation. My better option was probably to play along since I might be able to placate her. The alternative was probably that she would turn to more forceful tactics like forcing down the _veritaserum_ when I denied her request outright.

Without another word I stepped forward and took the cup while still standing and pretended to gulp it in one swig. I cast a vanishing spell by pressing my hand into my pocket and casting it nonverbally before the contaminated liquid touched my lips. Thankfully she was too focused on my face to notice my hand and greedily looked at me now that she thought I was under her control.

"Where is Dumbledore?" her question was direct, not that I had expected anything else.

"No idea," I steeled my words and watched her ravenous smile fall into a disappointed frown.

Since I had pretended to gulp the entire potion she seemed content to move on even though she was obviously frustrated by my answer.

"Where is Sirius Black?" I bit back my growl at this and thanked Merlin I had clued in before stupidly accepting her drink offering.

"I don't know," each word was pronounced syllabically.

Umbridge let a few moments of silence pass before she blew out her frustration in a huff.

"Fine, fine. Go back to class O'Hara," she waved dismissively and I didn't wait for her to change her mind.

I was livid that she had tried to use that tactic against me and wondered now if that was how she found out about the DA.

My answer came later when we saw Marietta Edgecombe with the word SNEAK displayed across her forehead.

"Serves her right for squealing," Katie said rather viciously at lunch.

All of us were disappointed that the DA had been effectively disbanded and it was entirely Cho Chang's friend's fault. I contemplated that she probably was put under _veritaserum_ but I couldn't bring myself to feel sympathy for her. The only thing I was slightly relieved about was that Cho and Harry were no longer talking ever since Cho brought up Cedric on Valentine's Day. Apparently their date during the day hadn't been that much better and Harry had since been avoiding her, even when she tried to reconcile by telling him how brave he was to have interviewed for the Quibbler.

"What's that sound?" Alicia exclaimed and the sound of minor explosions stole my attention.

Our answer came a moment later when a dragon made out of fireworks came bursting into the Great Hall.

"That's bloody brilliant!" Lee shouted, all of knowing it must be Fred and George's doing.

I tried looking around but couldn't find the twins anywhere. Surprisingly they were keeping a low profile but the fireworks didn't die down when we left and headed to Charms. The flurry of bright reds and vibrant purples followed us all the way down the corridor.

Class was frequently interrupted by the dragon and although I knew Flitwick could easily rid of it, he instead opted to summon Umbridge to try and dispose of it.

" _I didn't know if I was allowed to get rid of it,"_ Flitwick mused before closing the classroom door in Umbridge's face once the fire beast was sent out.

"Well that just made my day," Angelina murmured amongst our group and the rest of us nodded in agreement.

I hadn't told them yet about my _veritaserum_ theory, figuring we had all had enough doom and gloom lately without being reminded about how awful Umbridge was. Instead I kept up my excitement as we laughed to ourselves after class down to the Great Hall for dinner. Once we entered I finally saw the twins waiting for us.

"Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs. They'll be available at our shop this fall!" George announced excitedly as a horde of students crowded him and Fred.

"So, that was you stepping over the line?" I asked as I took the seat in between them, pressing my way through the crowd to get there.

"Yea, but we used the entire lot. We'll have to start over from scratch. It was completely worth it though, seeing that toad scurrying around all day chasing our dragon," I was excited to hear from Fred that the other teachers had reacted similarly as Flitwick and gave in to the twins' tricks for once.

I kissed Fred on the cheek happily, feeding into his excitement and those around me. The whiz-bangs had really helped to lighten my mood and I wanted to keep it that way since I figured the twins wouldn't last much longer with the rate they were going and how they were advertising that it was their fireworks that went off.

"You need a distraction?" I heard George asking eagerly and I cued back into the conversations around me.

Harry looked put off but both twins now wore mischievous smiles and I knew they would be only too happy to provide whatever assistance Harry needed.

"Yea, how about it Georgie? We haven't used _that_ yet," Fred offered with a mischievous glint.

"Oh yes Freddie, _that_ one will work perfectly. We'll have everything ready in an hour Harry, so be ready," George promised before both twins immediately stood up and each grabbed onto one of my hands.

I wasn't finished with my supper but I was being dragged unceremoniously out of the Great Hall before I could object. It was almost like both twins were having a telepathic conversation over my head before I was deposited onto Fred's bed up in their dormitory. George immediately started collecting his things and I knew that whatever they were planning would be their epic finale.

"So, whatever you're planning to distract Umbridge from Harry. This is it right?" I asked, hating the nervousness in my voice.

Fred sighed and plopped down beside me.

"Yea this is it. We've got a plan to head back to London and it involves getting caught," Fred admitted and I thought of being in Umbridge's office only hours earlier for my botched interrogation. "Are you going to be alright?"

I saw the worry in his gaze and even noticed George's feigned ignorance even though I knew he was waiting for my answer.

"I promise not to do anything you wouldn't do," I smiled and George burst into laughter.

"That doesn't rule out a whole heck of a lot," George continued to chuckle while Fred laughed more nervously.

"Just be safe Hare, please," Fred's genuine reply made my breath hitch and my laughing turned into a slight choking.

Fred ran his hand over my back soothingly and George returned his attention to rooting around his trunk.

"I'll be fine Fred. I love you," I said quietly and leaned forward once I caught my breath.

"I love you too Hare," Fred whispered and sealed our promise with a kiss.


	73. Cruciatus Curse

Hogwarts without the twins was hardly bearable. Umbridge was barking mad and I was only counting the days until exams were over.

However, I was quite proud of the legacy the twins had left. There was no going up to the fifth floor in the east wing because Umbridge couldn't figure out how to get rid of the swamp they left behind. And seeing the two broom-shaped holes in the office door in our Defense classroom was a reminder of their great escape. Mostly, I would spend my classes with Umbridge staring up at those holes until Filch finally replaced the door.

But everyone using their Skiving Snackbox purchases showed just how many products Fred and George had sold this year. I still had no interest in vomiting or bleeding to get out of class but couldn't help feeling mighty pleased with the sheer amount of people who did.

Another stark reminder was the eventual return of Montague, apparently severely disoriented from his trip into the Vanishing Cupboard.

"Should we say anything?" Alicia asked when we saw Montague's parents arrive at the castle one day looking extremely perturbed with their dazed son in tow.

"And take the fall for something Fred and George did? No way!" Lee seemingly made the argument we didn't want to refute since none of us did come forward to Umbridge or even Madam Pomfrey.

But another thing all together that I noticed was the consistent letters Harry seemed to be receiving from my father. The handwriting was undeniable but Harry always stuffed the letters into his robes and would leave the Great Hall under my questioning gaze.

One day when I had had enough, my stern gaze landed on the two Gryffindor prefects who both surprisingly looked nervous.

"Ron, what's going on with Harry? Why is dad writing him so much?" I figured Ron would be the most willing to confess but he bowed his head into his breakfast before stuffing his mouth full of food to avoid answering.

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" Hermione fumed so I turned my attention to her instead. "Harry wanted to keep it from you so you won't get anymore upset but he should know by now that you worry just the same as he does."

"'Ermnee," Ron tried to discourage her but his mouth was still full of food and Hermione ignored him.

"Your father actually talked with Harry the day the twins caused that diversion. Harry used the Floo in Umbridge's office to talk with Snuffles, Remus and Joss. He's been worrying about his father since he used the Occlumens charm against Snape and saw one of Snape's memories of being bullied by Harry's dad. And ever since, Snape hasn't been meeting Harry for his Occlumency training," Hermione huffed and my mouth gaped open.

Suddenly, I was annoyed with Harry and everyone else who seemingly knew what was going on, and lost my appetite for breakfast. I decided to stand up and head off early for class since I had no idea where Harry might be by this point and figured I would corner him later.

I heard Hermione and Ron arguing behind me but didn't pay them any attention.

I was even more bitter about things when it led me to not being able to concentrate in Double Herbology. But I was forced to put a pause on my brooding when Professor Sprout made us prune back the Venomous Tentacula. I didn't want to end up with purple hands full of venom which is the first stage of the poisoning from the plant used mostly for fertilizer.

I also had Astronomy that night so it wasn't until that evening up in the common room where I finally had the chance to confront Harry. I assumed Ron and Hermione must have warned him because Harry only tensed his shoulders slightly when I approached him with my stern gaze, but otherwise didn't look surprised.

Ron and Hermione gave us some privacy by going over to join Neville and Seamus which left Harry looking uncomfortable.

"Look Marnie—" he started but I cut him off.

Knowing Harry all this time he only ever had one explanation to give me whenever he left me in the dark. But being the older sister here, I no longer had any patience for hearing about Harry wanting to protect me or spare me from his pain.

"Harry, I'm not some fragile little girl. I understand we have _both_ had a pretty horrible time of it lately, but that's all the more reason why I want to hear if you're upset or in trouble," I paused and saw Harry's argument disappear behind his eyes.

"Alright, I apologise for not telling you about why Joss has been writing everyday. Hermione told me she explained the whole Snape thing. But I didn't really know how to talk about it since I didn't want to spoil the thought of my parents and Sirius in your mind. I _saw_ them Marnie. My dad was hexing Snape and making a spectacle of it when they were at school. I mean, that's pretty horrible and I just needed to ask Sirius about it. Remus and Joss were also there when I used the Floo. They told me that Snape and my dad had a pretty intense rivalry. But they also told me that I should still be proud of my father and not judge him too harshly from when he was at school. But I'm his age right, from that time?" Harry explained sounding unsure of himself.

"You know Harry, I don't really have that many memories of your parents or my mother from before. And it's been just me and my dad for a really long time. But I'm still not exactly like him or even like my mum from her school days. I see enough in the weird dreams that I get that we are very different people, despite the fact that everyone always tells me how much I look like her," I explained watching Harry continue to look perplexed. "We always knew James and Sirius were troublemakers, maybe more so than the twins even. They might have toed the line or even gone over it when they were young, but that was before they grew up and James married Lily and they decided to have you."

Harry smiled at this but I knew he was still strung out. I didn't know if it was just from whatever he had seen in Snape's memories or if there were other things like the looming fact that Voldemort was back and the Ministry was still unwilling to acknowledge it.

Shortly after Harry got up to return to the other fifth years who were all in a group studying. I walked by my group of friends but I could tell by the look on Angelina's face that she was going over quidditch tactics for the upcoming game this weekend. It was the last game of the season, deciding if Gryffindor would keep the cup or lose it to Ravenclaw.

XX

The morning of the match was filled with more anxiety than excitement. I walked with Harry in solidarity since he was sulking even more than usual. He was keeping up a decent enough face so not to ruin it for Ginny or Ron who were also walking with us, but I knew he was devastated still about his lifelong ban.

"Good luck Ange!" I hugged her stiff shoulders from behind when I made my way out to the stands with Harry and Hermione while Angelina whispered to the girls and Ron over their untouched breakfast plates.

I didn't take it personally that I didn't even think Angelina had noticed my hug or show of affection but instead followed my brother and most other students out of the Great Hall.

The three of us got all the way to the stands before we saw a very harried looking Hagrid looming at the base of the pitch.

"Hi, you three," Hagrid's smile was genuine but nervous and I frowned at him. "Would you come with me?"

I knew that despite Harry's perturbance from not being able to play didn't mean Harry didn't want to watch the match at all, especially since Ron was already looking green with panic this morning and Harry wanted to show his support for this best friend.

"I just need these two. Maybe best to keep this small," Hagrid looked at me worried so I didn't push it.

I did also want to support Angelina with her last match as captain and Alicia and Katie for their last match, so despite my worry for Hagrid I let him lead Harry and Hermione off without me.

"I'll fill you in," I nodded and gave Hagrid a meaningful look before ascending the stands to find Neville and Luna.

"Harry is going to miss Cho playing," Luna's dreamy voice said this in greeting and I swallowed my audible scoff without answering.

I knew Harry was no longer talking with Cho regularly, let alone dating her anymore, but she still rubbed me the wrong way.

The mood didn't uplift hearing Lee's unenthusiastic commentary or the fact that the Slytherin's started singing the _Weasley is our King_ song with a few added verses. I thought maybe it was a good thing that Harry and Hermione weren't watching, especially once the game started and Ron let in the first goal of the game.

"Ron is looking pretty green, isn't he," Luna observed and Neville buried his head in his hands like he didn't want to watch the game even though he continued to watch it through his fingers anyways.

"Come on Ron!" I shouted with my hands cupped around my mouth.

"Johnson passes to Spinnet who passes to Bell. Come on Kate!" Lee's bias for his girlfriend shone through.

"Chambers steals the quaffle and is headed for Weasley. Look alive Ron!" Lee called through the microphone and I'm sure that was some sort of foul.

I held onto Luna and we both shrieked when Ron made the save, although rather clumsily. The game went along at the same nail-biting pace where Ron would let one in but then work up the nerve to save the next. Angelina was also able to rally the chasers who had been playing together for enough years to be seamless in their plays.

"Ginny sees it!" Neville called out and all three of us turned to watch Ginny pulling in front of Cho who was also going after the golden snitch.

"Come in Ginny!" I shouted as me and Luna jumped together in anticipation and Luna made her costume roar enthusiastically.

I almost didn't hear the eruption of initial applause over Luna's lion head. Once Ginny wrapped her hand around it and claimed victory for Gryffindor everyone around us started shouting wildly. I smugly watched as Cho landed a little ways away from Ginny and threw her broom onto the ground in frustration.

Instead of going out to the field like normal I walked back into the school to wait for my friends to come up and join the party. It felt a little less exciting that it hadn't been the twins who played in the game and won Gryffindor the Inter-House Cup. Or that they weren't here to supply the bootlegged drinks and candy from Hogsmeade.

But that didn't mean other students didn't have stashes of their parents' fire whisky that was still passed around the party that was all in celebration of Ron who made enough saves for the team to win.

When Harry and Hermione finally found their way to the common room I silently extricated myself from my friends who were imbibing heavily in their celebratory win. Katie and Lee were openly making out and I only missed hearing the twins who would no doubt be taking the mickey out of them for it.

"So what did Hagrid want?" I asked when Harry stepped away from Ron to get himself a drink.

"Erm—it's a very Hagrid sort of problem," Harry lowered his voice and I knew from his comment that it must mean some sort of magical creature since Hagrid always seemed to bite off more than he can chew with the pets he kept.

"Worse that a dragon?" I asked and Harry's face blanched.

"He has a half-brother, who is also a full giant," Harry's voice was even lower and I fought back to ask if I had heard him right; but I knew I heard him right even when I didn't want to believe it.

"Umbridge will lose her mind if she finds out. I mean giants do not take orders from wizards or anyone else for that matter," I whispered fervently.

"Well she's the reason he told us. Hagrid knows she's gunning for his dismissal so he wants to make sure _Grawp_ is taken care of. You should see him Marnie, he's enormous! Hagrid doesn't have a clue and asked us to watch him—no actually to teach him English!" Harry stopped himself since his voice was rising louder in volume and he didn't want to be overheard.

I shook my head worriedly but Angelina came over and grabbed me by the arm before I could say anything else.

"It's a shame you couldn't play Harry, but Ginny was brilliant!" Angelina was a few drinks in and was glowing in her achievement for leading Gryffindor to victory.

"Yea she is," Harry's voice sounded contemplative like maybe he was thinking past just Ginny's quidditch skills.

"Come on Marnie, come celebrate!" Ange's smile was as infectious as always and I couldn't help but oblige her and take the drink from Alicia's outstretched hand when I was led back to the group.

Another drink in and I forgot about Hagrid's big problem in the Forbidden Forest or the fact that I was lonely without my two best friends. Instead I joined in my dormmate's victory and enjoyed one of the last celebrations of our entire school career.

It turned out I was happy I enjoyed the after-party since the next day started the intense studying for our NEWTs.

I threw myself into my books which was a good distraction from what was actually happening around me. Angelina, Katie and Alicia were always around so I found that was enough company, even when we didn't really talk. Lee didn't seem as committed to studying but would more often than not follow Katie because if not he wouldn't see her at all.

XX

"That was a nightmare compared to our OWL in Transfiguration!" Alicia huffed when the five of us walked out of the Great Hall a little worse for wear.

I noticed Alicia still had a few more freckles than usual on her face but figured I would mention it when she calmed down.

"Well it's behind us now. We better get studying for our Charms exam tomorrow," Angelina sounded dejected already like she had already crammed her brain too full to really take in any more information.

But I followed them all up, wanting to keep studying since I was set on getting all my NEWTs and felt I didn't really have anything better to do with my time. At this point I just wanted the exams to be over so we could graduate and leave. I felt I had a new life waiting outside of Hogwarts and it was exciting to think it would be starting soon.

But that night brought even more troubling news when the fifth years came running in after their Astronomy exam. They told all the seventh years who were still up studying and some other late-night students what they had seen. Apparently the Ministry had come for Hagrid and in defending the half-giant Professor McGonagall had been struck by four stunners.

"But why would they sack Hagrid now?" Angelina asked as the five of us listened intently to Harry, Ron and Hermione with Neville, Seamus and Dean sitting with them.

"Umbridge doesn't like half-breeds," Hermione spoke like she had bile in her mouth that tasted bitter.

"She blamed the niffler being set off in her office on Hagrid even though he was teaching at the time," Ron explained and I watched as Lee shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Oh blimey, that was me," Lee looked guilty but I knew it must have been Fred and George who gave Lee the idea, probably more of an order like they'd given Peeves to wreak havoc.

"How did you even get a niffler?" I asked, unable to curb my curiosity.

Lee smirked at this despite his still evident guilt. "Fred gave you the credit. He says that actually listening to all your tips from Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures has given him a lot of ideas for the shop."

I thought back to when we learned about nifflers in Care of Magical Creatures and how I had in fact told Fred that night about how interesting it was to be able to lure such a creature with only a shiny object, usually something of value like coins or jewelry.

xx

That night it took a while for me to get to sleep but was vividly aware of when I did start dreaming.

I heard the voice I had heard many times before in my dreams and mind, and I realised I had heard this specific conversation whenever I faced against any dementors.

"Squib lover thinks she can save him. She knows too much," Bellatrix Lestrange loomed over me with a hungry look in her eyes.

Immediately I knew what was about to happen and started to panic. There was only one instance my mother had ever been defenceless at Bellatrix's feet.

 _I don't want to see this!_

I was appalled in the few seconds my mind raced before Bellatrix cast the Unforgiveable Curse.

 _Mum, please! Mum, I don't want to see this! PLEASE!_

 _"Crucio!"_

Suddenly my entire body was alight like wildfire; like my insides were boiling and my mind was stretching past its limits.

I bolted awake at the sudden pain and threw off my blankets like they were constricting me. My breathing was laboured and I looked around my dorm room, trying to ground myself and see if I had waken anyone else up.

Thankfully, somehow, I hadn't screamed to alert Angelina or the others. I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to climb into bed with Fred but knew he wasn't tucked into his four poster in the boy's dormitory.

Feeling scared at what I had just seen and frustrated that I had been shown this particular memory, I cast a Silencing Charm and instead cried myself back to sleep.

When I woke up feeling sore and groggy the next morning, I was only relieved it was the very last exam and it happened to be my best subject. Professor Sprout had prepared us well and I was able to discern the poisonous plants from those that only mimic their properties. The rest of the exam was more theoretical, asking questions like: _Why did the Ministry for Magic prohibit the use of nightlock in Sleeping Draughts in 1896? What were the terrible list of events leading to this decision?_

I was able to write almost two feet for my answer and exhaled rather loudly when I finished and wrapped up my exam scroll. It was the last step in my education at Hogwarts and I was more relieved than I wanted to admit. A part of me felt melancholy that I would be leaving something so pivotal in my life behind. It was akin to feeling loss, especially when my memories of Cedric lingered in the halls of the school. I smiled at the thought of just how many memories I had made here, trying ever so desperately to push back on the scarring memories of my dream last night.

My seven years with the twins pulling pranks and getting into mischief. Hanging out with Angelina, Katie and Alicia; spending hours talking about everything we didn't want to discuss in front of the boys. Reconnecting with Harry and being his big sister…

Hogwarts had been the setting for most of the big events in my life and now it felt like leaving it behind was just as big of an impact.

"Hey Marnie!" I turned to see Ginny walking along with Luna. "Are you all done with your exams?"

"Yea, I just finished with Herbology," I replied, falling into step beside them.

"I guess this means we can go back to sharing books," Luna exclaimed and I nodded.

"Now that I'm done exams I can go back to reading for fun," I smiled, earning a scoff from Ginny.

"I don't know how you get along so well with my brothers if you read for fun. Honestly, what do you and Fred even talk about?" Ginny's question was playful and I swatted her shoulder good-naturedly in return.

We continued walking through the corridors, me letting the other two lead the way since I had joined them in their venture. But we all froze at the sounds of a familiar voice shouting in one of the classrooms.

Ginny stepped forward, quickening her pace as Luna and I followed close behind her.

"Harry is everything okay?" Ginny peaked her head into the room since the door was already open ajar.

"Nothing that concerns you," Harry bit back and I was surprised he was being so rude; Luna obviously agreeing.

"You're being quite rude, Harry," Luna stepped in beside Ginny and I wondered if I was even visible to him since both girls were an inch taller than me and I was behind them.

"Wait, they can help!" Hermione exclaimed and at this moment I chose to step forward.

"Help with what?" Harry apparently had turned his back because he whirled around at the sound of my voice.

"Marnie—" he paused for a half a second before returning to his previous frantic state. "It's Sirius. We need to get to the Department of Mysteries right _now!"_

That was a loaded sentence in itself with a lot of unknown variables but then I considered every other school year with Harry in attendance and figured this might be on par with Harry going into the belly of the school to battle with a giant snake.

"How can we help?" Harry again hitched his permanent looking scowl and looked grateful for my comment.

I figured he might have been expecting me to push back against him, but I didn't want to stall when it seemed Sirius might be in danger. I had been left behind when Harry went against Quirrell-Voldemort; petrified by a basilisk; unconscious from a dementor attack; and a spectator for a silly tournament when my boyfriend was murdered. There was no way I was staying behind this time.

"We need to keep students away from the Defense hallway," Hermione said and Ginny surprisingly voiced the same idea that came to my mind.

"We'll tell everyone that someone unleased Garrotting Gas."

Hermione looked taken aback at Ginny's quick idea but I smirked. "Fred and George were going to do it before they left."

Harry nodded before we split off with our own assignments. I was to join Ginny and Luna for heading off any students while Ron would stall Umbridge and Harry and Hermione would use Umbridge's Floo to check in at Grimmauld Place to see if Sirius was there.

I hoped to Merlin he was because I was starting to piece together the situation in my head and figured Harry must have had another dream concerning Sirius being _tortured_ based on Harry using that specific word. Then there was my own dream of torture to consider, and my stomach immediately fell.

"Thanks," I heard just Harry's voice as he invisibly passed me standing beside Luna at one end of the corridor.

I could hear Ginny telling off some students from the other end but word must have gotten out concerning our ruse since we didn't see anyone approach us while we waited for Harry to return. My previous exam stress now seemed like mild concern compared to waiting to see if Sirius was safe or not.

"O'Hara, there you are, you good for nothing squib," Flint appeared suddenly with his shiny badge on his robes and a smirk that looked far too pleased for only running into me in the hallway.

I knew right away something was wrong and that Umbridge somehow knew about Harry being in her office.

"Let her go!" another surprising voice called out and I looked up to see Neville looking more confident than I had ever seen him as he tried to get Montague off of manhandling Luna.

However, another Slytherin by the name of Warrington came to Flint's aid and helped cart the four of us up towards Umbridge's office. My anxiety was replaced by anger as Flint roughly dragged me along and up the stairs.

But nothing prepared me for how livid I turned when we finally entered the pink chambers of Professor Umbridge.

"I ought to use the Cruciatus curse to loosen that tongue of yours Potter," her school girl grin was malicious, showing her true colours for how she wanted to treat the world to get it to kneel before her and her precious Ministry.

"NO!" I bellowed, earning me a hard kick in the shin and elbow to the stomach by Flint.

The dream I had had last night fully present in my mind as I fought hard against Flint to break free. The adrenaline coursing through me prevented the pain from registering as I fought harder against Flint's tight grip.

But Hermione's tear strung outburst stopped me dead in my attempt to break free. She was apparently going to confess what her and Harry were doing and I couldn't believe it. That is, until she went on with her bold faced lie.

"We need to reach Dumbledore to tell him the weapon is ready."

 _What weapon?_

I wracked my brain for what Hermione could possibly have up her sleeve to stall this dire predicament. But whatever Hermione was thinking worked like a charm since she convinced Umbridge to accompany only her and Harry, leaving us alone with the thick-skulled Slytherin group.

Ginny and I shared a mischievous look once Umbridge carted the other two away before we each in turn sent a hex or spell onto the unsuspecting Inquisitorial Squad.

" _Stupify!"_ I shouted for extra effect since I knew I could have done it non-verbally.

Flint's frozen body was enough satisfaction before the five of us, including Ron rallied together and went running out of the office.

"Where could they have gone?" Ginny asked but Ron pointed out the window, fortuitously spotting Harry and Hermione at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Without another word we dashed down to the Entrance Hall before making our way across the grounds.

"How are we going to get to London?" Harry asked out loud to Hermione while Ron replied like we were already a part of the conversation.

"That's what I wanted to know."

Harry looked put off that we had all made it down to them so quickly but I refused to obey or be dissuaded by his temper.

"We're coming with you Harry," my voice let no room for argument and I could tell that Harry was too impatient to come up with a plan to put any effort into an argument.

"So, we'll fly on those of course," Luna's unexpected calm voice cancelled out everyone else's squabbling and I worried for a moment that this was one of Luna's more abstract ideas.

But by the look on Harry's face I could tell he was staring at whatever Luna saw as well.

"Thestrals," I whispered sadly, not permitting myself to really think about why Harry could see the creatures after what happened last year.

"I'll help everyone find one," Luna added helpfully while Harry went over and grabbed his own hurriedly.

I knew Harry was in no mood to be the leader of this ragtag band but we were all invested if it meant we would save Sirius. Now I just had to fly over Great Britain on an invisible creature and hope I don't fall off before the real trouble began.


	74. Not Being Left Behind

It was exhilarating flying into London. I only willed myself not to think too carefully about the fact that I couldn't see the creature I was inevitably allowing to safeguard my life.

When we landed back on the ground in the middle of the city, Ron vowed he would never be doing that again. But Harry's anger snapped everyone's attention and we hastily made our way to he Ministry for Magic.

"Harry, shouldn't there be some sort of security?" I asked once we cleared the telephone booth lift and crossed through the atrium of the Ministry.

"Right," Harry's voice told me that he had been thinking the same thing. "Maybe some of you should stay to keep watch."

"Don't be stupid Harry, we're all coming with you," I bit back a little harshly.

As much as I didn't exactly like the idea of Luna, Neville and Ginny coming on this mission to rescue Sirius, I knew they were just as invested as the rest of us. And before he could suggest that I stay behind, I met Harry's eyes, knowing he knew how much Sirius was like family to me as well.

"Right, let's go," he nodded as we all rushed after him towards the lifts to the Department of Mysteries. Once we arrived on the right floor we all filed out and immediately entered through a very grand looking door. Neville shut it behind us at Harry's instruction but the walls around the circular room immediately started spinning around in a dizzying manner until we didn't know which way we had possibly come through.

"So, what now? What was in your dream Harry?" I asked, wanting to avoid us losing anymore nerve than we all probably had already.

"Straight," Harry stated confidently.

We all nodded although no one else said anything else as we stayed tightly in formation and headed for the door directly in front of us. It opened into another sparsely decorated room that only had one great fish tank in the middle. I looked over to see Harry's frown and figured this didn't match the description in his head as to where we would supposedly find Sirius.

"What are they?" Ginny asked once we all turned our attention to the bright green water with white creatures floating in it.

"They don't look much like fish," Ron observed.

I looked more closely and agreed that they definitely weren't regular aquatic creatures.

 _"_ They're brains!" Hermione exclaimed frantically, although still rather quietly since no one wanted to draw too much attention to ourselves.

"Are you sure?" I asked before realising that Hermione was right.

The strange white objects in the tank did look like brains which made the room feel even more ominous than it did a moment ago.

"Is this right, Harry?" Ginny asked and Harry shook his head frustratedly.

"No, we should go back and try a different door," the seven of us agreed before filing back.

Hermione craftily put an X on the door before it shut and the room's walls spun around again.

Harry tried the door that landed in front of us and I peered over his shoulder to see a daunting dais in the center of a much darker room.

"Sirius?" Harry called out like he had heard someone speaking and I strained to pick up on whatever it was Harry heard.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione whispered forcefully a few moments later and I realised that I was transfixed on the dais whereas Harry had ventured in like he wanted to approach it.

Hermione's voice broke whatever trance we were in and I stepped forward to grab Harry's shoulder and pulled him back so Hermione could mark and close the door.

The next door Harry used was locked but Harry still used the knife he got from Sirius to open it. This seemed to be the right choice since he became elated and burst out saying this was the correct room.

"They're crystal balls aren't they? Like prophecies?" I asked, remembering at least this much from my five years of Divination.

The room was filled with shelves that ran all the way up to the ceiling. And the only thing filling them was dimly glowing orbs that each had murky smoke inside, much like the ones we used at school.

"Come on, this way. We need to get to row ninety-seven," Harry ordered before I fell into step beside him with Ron and Hermione directly behind us, closely followed by the other three.

At some point Harry grabbed onto my hand like he was leading me even though I was walking right beside him. But I didn't mind since the ominous feeling of the hair on the back of my neck standing up was increasing as we purposefully approached the correct row.

"Keep your eyes out for anything," Harry stated without turning around to look at the others since we were quickly approaching our destination and the lighting remained dimmed.

Once we arrived at the right location the seven of us fanned out, Harry releasing my hand so we could both focus.

"Sirius?" I whispered, looking at the ground for any evidence that anyone had been here.

"Sirius!" Harry's voice sounded more loudly than mine but still no one replied to our desperate calls.

My focus turned to the shelves around us, still looking for any clues, especially when Hermione stated she felt Sirius wasn't actually here.

However, I gasped when I saw my brother's name written on one of the prophecies and pointed when Harry looked sharply over at me. "Why is your name on one of these? _Here_ of all places?"

My mind quickly changed tracks, not taking lightly the coincidence that Sirius was not here and instead there was a prophecy regarding Harry at the very place we had been led to.

"I don't think you should touch it," Hermione warned but of course Harry stepped forward and grabbed it before anyone of us could stop him.

That's when whoever had been hiding in the shadows stepped forward.

At the sight of Bellatrix Lestrange my hand found Harry's out of instinct and he squeezed it tightly before reluctantly dropping it so he would have enough hands to carry his wand and the prophecy separately.

Lucius Malfoy was also there, approaching Harry with an outstretched hand like Harry was willingly going to hand over the glass orb.

But it wasn't until Harry's sharp foot stomped on mine that I refocused and heard Harry whisper through his stalling conversation with the Death Eaters.

"Smash shelves—" Harry's whisper was almost imperceptible but I nodded slightly in response. "When I say _now_."

Bellatrix's imfamous temper flared and I grasped my wand tighter instead of reaching for Harry and waited with bated breath before Harry's shout rang out.

"NOW!"

" _Bombarda_!" I raised my wand instantly and felt the shelf beside us explode and tip over, falling on the one adjacent.

Hermione, Ron and Ginny caught on to Harry's plan quickly and aimed similar attacks to a few other shelves before we were sprinting through the narrow aisles between exploding glass balls.

" _Stupefy!"_ I cast the spell when I noticed someone coming towards me from one of the other aisles before I turned around to help out Ginny, Luna, and Ron.

We were able to ward off three Death Eaters before we were finally given a chance to get away.

"Come on!" Ginny shouted, pulling my hand before I could direct her towards the direction I had seen Harry and Hermione run off to.

However that pathway was blocked by fallen shelves now, so I let Ginny lead and was thankful when we came to a door.

" _Alohomora!"_ I cast the charm while still running so we only slowed to a jog before bursting through the door instead of having to stop all together.

The room we ran into looked like it might be the filing room for the Department of Mysteries which seemed too banal to be true, but we didn't stop to contemplate this since two more Death Eaters had followed us in and continued with their attacks.

" _Inebrio_!" I heard one of them cast an unusual attack only to turn back and see Ron get hit square in the chest.

My panic welled up when I immediately noticed that despite the fact that Ron was still standing upright, he was no longer running as the Death Eaters closed in.

" _Stupefy!"_ Ginny and Luna covered me while I went back and grabbed onto Ron's arm to drag him along.

"Marnie—" his pronunciation of the 'e' was elongated on his tongue before he started giggling. "You're so pretty Marnie."

 _"Petrificus Totalus!"_ Ginny kept up her slew of spells while I coaxed Ron along.

"Oh Merlin, you're drunk Ron," I shook my head in annoyance but was happy Ginny and Luna were also here since Ron was significantly slowing us down.

I had to keep dragging him along since Ron wanted to stop and look at everything we passed.

"Come on, Ron!" Ginny pleaded when she doubled back and Luna continued leading us towards the next door at the other end of the room.

This room seemed to have jars of substances that looked foul and deadly just looking at them. I suspected I might have seen movement in one of them but didn't want to give it much thought since we were now running for our lives.

Wanting to keep putting distance between us and the Death Eaters we kept running to another door, Ginny being the first one through and onto the uneven ground. This room surprisingly had some sort of rocky terrain and Ginny rolled over her ankle before we all came in and tumbled over her.

"Gin, can you move?" I asked once I had Ron up off the ground who was laughing incessantly. "Luna, can you help her?"

Luna, who had been pretty quiet this entire time nodded, although Ginny shook her off and instead hobbled as we now very slowly crossed the room.

"In here!" I heard more Death Eaters behind us and cursed under my breath since Ginny and Ron were no longer in any fit state to fight.

"Here!" Luna called out as she and Ginny found yet another door.

I could hear Ginny's laboured breathing from here, even when Ron was incessantly laughing beside me. He even stopped to pick up a rock from the ground and said it looked like Fred's head. In response I swatted it out of his grip before lugging him along with limited patience.

"Ron, we're going to find Harry," I tried coaxing him, hoping we would find the others since I felt I couldn't leave Ron alone to be able to defend our group when we were found in the next couple minutes.

Thankfully, I did hear Harry's voice once we opened the next door but paled when I saw that Hermione was unconscious and Neville was carrying her; although he also looked pretty banged up with a limp and bloodied nose.

"What happened to him?" Harry asked in greeting when Ron approached him and started giggling again.

We were standing in the aquarium room again with all the brains and I could hear Death Eaters coming from the various entrances of the room. We were surrounded.

Matters only got worse when Ron took this exact moment to dig his hand into the aquarium and came over to show off the brain in his hand.

"Bollocks Ron!" I shouted when the tentacles started ensnaring him and travelling to be around his neck.

Harry and Neville tried a few spells but Harry's seemed to be the wrong one and Neville's swollen face disallowed him from being able to say the words to any spells properly. Instinctually, I stepped forward but immediately turned my attention to the five Death Eaters now entering the room.

Suddenly Harry was sprinting off and my feet followed him without my mind giving it a second thought. Ginny, Ron and Hermione were out of the fight while Neville seemed to be unable to cast any spells at all. This left me hoping that Luna would be able to save Ron and protect the others since the Death Eaters were all chasing Harry with the prophecy audaciously raised above his head.

When I followed after Harry, who had disappeared through the door the Death Eaters entered from, my feet were immediately airborne when the floor immediately dropped. My adrenaline suppressed my initial scream and then my subsequent yells were squelched out when I landed hard on the ground.

I had to push my lungs to inhale and exhale before I stood up and joined Harry. He was facing off against Bellatrix and the rest of them which made my already wheezing breaths harder to conjure.

"Those eyes…" Bellatrix's dilated black irises turned to bore into mine once I came to stand beside Harry. "I've seen them before."

"I know," I gripped my wand so tightly I felt a blister pop between my thumb and finger. "I have the same eyes as my mother."

"Ooooh," this seemed to please Bellatrix and her sick mind. "And how is mummy dearest? Does mummy recognise her precious little baby anymore?" Bellatrix's voice taunted in a whiny voice that sent chills up my spine.

My stomach roiled with bile that I swallowed back down.

Instead I stepped forward, wanting to wipe the malicious look off her face. In turn, this caused Bellatrix to come forward as well, ignoring Malfoy's pleas to stand down until they secured the prophecy.

"Let's see if you can last as long as _she_ did, shall we?" Bellatrix raised her wand, just like she had as my boggart.

It was shockingly exactly like my memory of that day and I couldn't prepare myself for what came next.

" _Crucio!"_

Instantly I felt my mouth widen as far as it would stretch to elicit the shattering screams that escaped my body. It felt like the pain started from my toes and erupted through my core and extremities as my screams tried to get it out. But it didn't stop until Bellatrix lowered her wand.

I gasped for breath and didn't initially notice that both sides were halted from our standoff at the sudden arrival of several unexpected individuals. When I was able to lift my head I immediately recognised them as Remus, Sirius, Tonks, Moody and Kingsley.

"Harry, get Marnie out of here!" I heard Sirius shout but I couldn't focus my attention as I tried to pry myself up from the ground.

Harry was at my side in an instant, helping me the rest of the way up. But our progress was short lived when a masked Death Eater appeared and put Harry in a stronghold around his neck. He pushed me down again and my head smashed on the ground, making the world spin around me.

I couldn't get my body to cooperate but managed to look over only to see Harry being strangled while all the other Order members were occupied fighting the remaining Death Eaters. I managed to keep my grip on my wand and raised it only to see Neville come out of no where and stab a wand into the Death Eater's eye.

"Good one, Neville!" I managed to exclaim before both boys returned to my side and grabbed me to stand up.

"Harry, Marnie. GO! Get the others and go!" Sirius's voice sounded again and this time I turned to see him fighting against Antonin Dolohov before landing a stunner on him.

"Cumb on Marnie," Neville's voice was still hindered by his swollen face.

I nodded and found that most of my joints didn't want to cooperate to follow Harry and Neville with their hasty retreat. Since I was still facing Sirius, I saw that now he was facing off against Bellatrix. Harry had gone forward to help him, but he was too late. Sirius was looking in my direction when Bellatrix's green spell hit him right in the chest.

"Lena," I heard my mother's name spoken through all the chaos. I was taken with how soft it sounded only to see Sirius's unfocused eyes looking back at me. I couldn't move watching as Sirius's last breath had spoken my mother's name while he looked right at me.

I could hear sudden screaming and didn't know if it was mine or someone else's as it set in Sirius had just died. Hundreds of thought flooded my mind, remembering the sad gray eyes from my dreams that were somehow my mother's memories. As much as those eyes had haunted me, it was nothing compared to the hollow eyes I had just seen. I couldn't fathom that Sirius was now crumpled on the floor, so I forced myself to look away and focused on the cackling laugh that filled my mind with rage. My newfound adrenaline rush caused me to take off running towards it, running past Remus who was holding Harry and ignoring their shouts. Luckily Remus was too focused on keeping Harry back and Harry was hindered enough that I made it by them without being stopped.

I kept focused on the head of curled black hair and heard her gloating that she had just killed the man who had once loved with my mother with all his heart. I couldn't think about how that might have still been true since I was already hovering on the edge of breaking down in my mind.

"Here to avenge my disgrace of a cousin?" her cackles gave out to an angry sounding voice but I only focused on my wand that pointed to her chest.

" _Crucio!"_ I screamed, feeling infinitely more angry than I had when I tried the Unforgiveable Curse on Sirius in my fifth year.

I watched as Bellatrix's eyes stilled and widened in surprise but her smile only grew into a crazed expression.

"Tut tut, little girl. You have to _mean_ it," she giggled maniacally back at me.

I froze in shock, furious that my spell hadn't work.

"But I _do_ mean it!" I screamed back, feeling myself losing control. I couldn't understand after feeling this much resentment and burning rage that my spell still hadn't worked on Bellatrix; when all I did was hate her.

"Marnie!" I didn't look back at Harry since I didn't want Bellatrix to turn her attention onto him. I could tell though he sounded as angry as I felt.

But everything turned in an instant when Voldemort suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway we were standing in. Everything else happened equally as quick; me reluctantly turning towards Harry who collapsed to the ground, the feeling of someone appearing behind my back and the pair of cold arms wrap around me to drag me towards the fireplaces. Bellatrix managed to get my wand away from me and used the newest arrival of Dumbledore as a distraction. I didn't so much as a have a moment to call out since my mind felt like it was coming undone and Bellatrix had cast a muting spell for good measure.

"MARNIE!" Remus was the last person I saw looking horror struck before I disappeared into the Floo Network and arrived moments later in a very ornate looking fireplace.

I was no longer at the Department of Mysteries and was somehow now the captive of Bellatrix Lestrange.

XXX

 **So, I've had bits of this chapter ready to go since I started the OofP arc. I decided at the beginning of writing Marnie's last year that she was going to be kidnapped. It seems a little darker than I might have been going for when I started this story over a year ago but I've been realising that Marnie's life has been harder since Cedric died.**

 **So there's another book done and the adventure continues!**


	75. Delayed Rescue

Joss couldn't help pacing while he had his private conversation with Albus Dumbledore in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. His heart was broken and the news he had just been handed left him without any of his previous fleeting thoughts of hope.

"You're forcing Harry to go back to Lily's sister? He just lost Sirius, got possessed by You Know Who, and his sister is missing! Not to mention all this Chosen One nonsense in the Prophet," Joss argued, feeling hysterical that Harry was being taken from him as well.

"Joss, please trust me that it is vital Harry goes back to his aunt's house and calls it his home for the time being," Dumbledore replied solemnly.

But Joss pushed back on this, not believing how helpless he was in defending his two children after they had been through so much already.

"Albus, we all know where my daughter is yet you refuse to get her, and now you are telling me that I have to just accept that you are shipping my son off as well," Joss went on with a pleading desperation in his voice.

"We will bring Marnie back very soon Joss, Severus is working determinedly to retrieve her without further risking her safety. As for Harry, I know you count him as your own, but legally Lily' sister is Harry's true guardian," Dumbledore explained without any hesitation for Joss's sentiments on the matter.

Joss's frustration was evident, feeling his hands shaking in fists at his sides.

"If you think that I haven't been the one raising that boy for the past five years, then you are mistaken," Joss replied resolutely.

"I'm sorry Joss, but this is truly what is best for Harry for ensuring his safety," Dumbledore pressed further.

Joss frowned, not understanding what Dumbledore meant, but figured it must mean something against his lack of magical ability. But if that was the case then why was he even part of the Order. He had promised both Marnie and Harry his reasons for joining were to keep them safe, to advocate on their behalf that they were still children and not pawns of war. But now he couldn't even do that much.

"You better bring my children back to me Albus, because as of right now, their lives are seemingly in your hands," Joss sighed in defeated resolution before he turned and left.

Joss felt he hadn't even had time to properly grieve the loss of his friend whose house felt even more stifling now that Sirius wasn't there. Marnie and Harry had both looked up to Sirius and now they were both suffering separately, Marnie being a captive of war while Harry was more of a scapegoat or renegade hero in the papers. Joss despised how the Prophet was outing their speculations on the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, especially when Joss wasn't there to support Harry and answer his questions.

What was even worse though was what they said about Marnie.

 _Marnie O'Hara, daughter of Lena O'Hara (nee Tress) who was viciously attacked by confirmed Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange, disappeared during the break in at the Department of Mysteries. The Auror Department has denied to give any mention of their investigation. We have been unable to get in contact with her family, but sources say that Marnie O'Hara has familial connections to the Chosen One…_

When Joss came out of the kitchen he almost stumbled into Fred and George who had obviously been trying to hear his conversation with Dumbledore. The twins had been beside themselves since they heard of Marnie's disappearance and Joss frowned further that he didn't have any good news for them. The twins had since joined the Order but neither of them were very supportive of the plan for waiting to collect Marnie from Malfoy Manor.

"So, that's it then. Marnie's life is now in the hands of that slimy git Snape and we have to wait like Bellatrix and the rest of the Death Eaters aren't torturing her!" Fred's voice broke on the word _torturing_ and both Joss and George winced upon hearing it.

There had already been several meetings concerning the retrieval of Marnie since Remus reported watching Bellatrix Lestrange abducting her at the Department of Mysteries and Severus Snape had since confirmed her presence at Malfoy Manor through his vast social network within the Pureblood society. But the huge hinderance was that Voldemort himself was also calling the manor his base of operations and thought that having Marnie there boded well for having bait to lure Harry. So far, Severus had only reported that Marnie was still alive and was being _tended_ to by Bellatrix Lestrange. No one could stomach the details and Snape no longer came to give reports to Grimmauld Place while he and Dumbledore stayed quiet about how they knew so much about the situation but couldn't yet act on the intel.

XX

"It's going to be tonight. With Kingsley Shacklebolt leading the raid I will make sure O'Hara gets to them. The Dark Lord already knows about it so he won't be present but he's grown weary of Bellatrix's attachment to the girl. I've convinced him that using her won't get him to Potter and he has believed me for the time being," Snape hoped Dumbledore understood just how much patient conviction it had taken to mould the Dark Lord's perception of the girl who very much could have been used to throw Potter and be used as bait.

"It pains me Severus that Marnie has suffered; but it is what those six children knew before they followed Harry to the Department of Mysteries. It is what her mother understood as well when she joined the Order the first time. Lena made the very same evaluation the day she found the Longbottom's and tried to save the Potter's," Dumbledore didn't miss Severus's slight flinch at the mention of Lily under her married surname.

"Lena was an idiot," Snape retorted forcefully. "First Black, then the squib. She was just as smart as Lily and threw it all away just to wind up insane," Snape went on while Dumbledore looked at him with sad eyes.

"But don't you think some sacrifice is needed to truly appreciate love?" Dumbledore countered but this only caused Severus to sneer rebelliously.

"Is that what you call letting O'Hara be tortured for the past month; _sacrifice?"_ Snape replied snidely before he took his leave.

He had his task set out before him and felt anger for his old headmaster turned boss. This time Dumbledore was asking too much of him. Snape would save the foolish girl but by the end of this year, Snape questioned how he would be able to carry out the headmaster's last wish.

XX

I couldn't tell if the voice in my head belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange or if the curse had now buried itself inside my mind. It was like the physical pain turned into words that hurt so much more than the fiery piercings of the Cruciatus Curse.

 _You said you wanted him dead. It's your fault Sirius Black is dead._

"I didn't mean it! I didn't know!" I screamed but I could no longer feel my mouth moving.

 _The boy you love is dead_

"Fred?" I whimpered.

 _You disgusting girl! Have you already forgotten you gave your heart to Cedric?_

"No, never! I love Cedric!"

 _Answer me girl, is your father a squib?_

This voice sounded different and I opened my eyes to see a mess of black hair floating in front of me.

 _Answer me you damned girl. Is your pathetic father a squib? Did your stupid mother marry a squib?_

Even though I figured it was Bellatrix standing in front of me, now I could only see the face of Marcus Flint.

"Where is Harry Potter? Does little Potty think of you as his sister?"

I spat up instead of answering and tasted blood in my mouth. More filled my mouth when Bellatrix slapped me across the face for spitting at her. I barely felt it though after being put under the Cruciatus Curse on an off, day after day, when Bellatrix didn't forget she had left me in the dingy basement of Malfoy Manor.

I lay still on the floor for several minutes before I realised that Bellatrix must have been summoned away. I was alone on the cold cement and the darkness was pressing on my mind. By now I found it more and more tempting to just give in to it. But every time I felt my mind reaching its limits I would always see a flash of red and allow myself a small smile. Even in my desolation, Fred's stubbornness is fighting for me to stay strong and keep going.

"Fr—Fred," his name is coarse in my throat but I swallow before continuing the words that always ground me back to reality. "Fred is m—my boyfriend."

Flashes of another boy cross my mind and suddenly the word _boyfriend_ confuses me because I see both Fred and Cedric, so I start again.

"Fred Weasley is my best friend," this fact settles easier in my mind so I continue on.

"Angelina Johnson is my dormmate," I see Angelina's big smile and determined gaze on the back of my eyelids as I picture her.

"Katie Bell is my friend," Katie is wearing her quidditch robes in my memory and I catch an image of dreadlocks over her shoulder.

"Lee Jordan is Katie's boyfriend," I smile at this, knowing Fred and George always make fun of them for being so awkward about their relationship.

"George Weasley is my best friend," I see both twins together in my mind. Us all playing pranks, going to the kitchens late at night, heading to Honeydukes before our third year.

" _O'Hara_ ," I hear my last name whispered impatiently and it takes several moments for me to realise that the voice isn't inside my head.

"Stop your mumbling and move!" the voice is urgent but I don't listen until I feel a hand clasp on my shoulder.

I wince at the sudden contact from it.

"O'Hara stop this foolishness and come this instant!" my eyes flew open and landed on my old Potions Master looking at me much like he did whenever he was impatient for an answer in class.

Suddenly I was on me feet but found I didn't have much strength past the adrenaline that was pushing me to walk out the door of my prison chamber. I could hear voices up the stairs and suddenly felt dread for what I would walk into once we climbed the stairs.

"Go!" Snape sneered once more and I finally let my feet carry out his order before I pushed open the door into the brighter hallway of the greater manor.

Once I was out the door I turned around but saw that suddenly I was standing alone, Snape having disappeared from my escape attempt. My mind and body weren't fully cooperating with each other, so making a mad dash for it now, without my wand, wasn't as easy as I wanted it to be. I tentatively stepped towards the louder voices and audibly yelped when I heard a voice I recognised. I must have been louder than I thought since suddenly a frock of red hair, similar to the image in my mind that allowed me to keep my sanity, appeared at the end of the hallway.

"Marnie? Merlin's beard it is you!" Arthur Weasley quickly approached me before encasing me into a very paternal hug, lifting me into his arms.

I was slightly surprised that he could manage to lift me so easily but I also knew I had lost weight. My bones were pressing against my skin in more jagged edges and the school robes I was still wearing were now loose around my frame.

"I've got you Marnie, we're going home," Mr. Weasley's voice was more angry than I had ever heard it, but I knew it wasn't at me.

I let his warmth console me in a way I hadn't felt in a long time. My eyes were droopy, something that didn't scare me so much now. Staying awake had become more and more difficult when I wasn't being tortured since I didn't have any energy to spare and it made it easier to cope with the loneliness, misery and boredom if I just passed out.

Allowing myself to fall asleep now in Mr. Weasley's arms was more comforting and felt like a great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

XX

"Where is she?" Fred didn't bother with niceties and noticed he had startled his mother and Tonks from his abrupt arrival into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.

"Your father brought her straight to St. Mungo's," his mother's response was both sad and relieved in her tone.

Fred turned around to leave without another word but suddenly George's hand was on his shoulder to stop him. He wanted to shove him off without another thought but saw the look reflected in his twin's eyes that he must have gotten from their mother.

"Joss and Remus are with her now, but they're not allowing her any more visitor's love," his mother's words were supposed to be gentle but Fred felt them grind against him.

He had waited, none to patiently, for the past month for Marnie to be rescued. He had fought against his father and Kingsley, who orchestrated the raid under Dumbledore's suggestion, to go to Malfoy Manor himself but had been denied since the mission was under the official mandate of the Auror Office. Now he was being denied again to go see the girl he had loved since he was eleven and found his weary patience was long gone.

"Mum, please don't tell us to wait anymore," George spoke the angry words in Fred's head that came out much softer than what he would have done.

Fred still hadn't turned back, wanting to avoid the pitying stares from the congregated Order members. His mother had been fussing over him, not even bringing up the fact anymore that he and George had skipped out on their NEWTs to open a shop she didn't support; even though they had been doing quite well for themselves. Angelina and Lee helped out a lot to keep the store running ever since they all found out Marnie had gone missing at the Department of Mysteries.

Fred had blamed himself a lot over the past month for selfishly skipping out of school. He knew that if he had stayed just a few measly weeks to graduate with his friends then he would have followed Marnie and Harry to the Department of Mysteries. He would have fought by her side and never would have let her go chasing after Bellatrix Lestrange in an angry fit after having watched Sirius die. Remus and the other Order members had vividly filled the rest of them in on what happened at the Department of Mysteries, trying to get every detail that led to Sirius's death and Marnie's disappearance.

"We'll be at the hospital mum. We'll go as far as the doctor's will allow," George finally spoke, granting Fred permission to start moving again.

He didn't stop moving until he was out of the house and immediately apparated to St. Mungo's, hearing his twin by his side. Fred muttered to the mannequin that they were here to see Marnie O'Hara before they were allowed entrance into the building.

The waiting room they walked into was sparsely filled with patients and a few visitors. He remembered his feelings from when he was here only six months ago to visit his father, and how much dread he had felt then. But nothing compared to the anxiety rising in his chest, pushing his feet to find whichever room Marnie was in.

"We're here to see Marnie O'Hara. She was brought in today by our father," George stepped up again to talk to the woman who was sitting at the front desk and Fred knew he would have to make it up to his twin for having to be the calm one when Fred knew just how panicked George really was.

The administrator looked through a number of scrolls in front of her before frowning back at them.

"I'm sorry, but Miss. O'Hara isn't able to see any visitors right now," she answered in a formal voice.

But Fred couldn't register her politeness and only focused on her refusal.

"I need to see her dammit!" Fred bellowed fiercely and once again George was holding him back from walking past the desk in search of his best friend.

"I'm sorry sirs, but she's in a secure ward…" the witch began reciting some protocol nonsense but thankfully the three of them were interrupted by their father.

"Fred! George!" Arthur Weasley came jogging forward, looking ruffled and exhausted.

Fred realised his father hadn't been home to change since taking part in the raid this morning at Malfoy Manor. By the looks of his tattered robes, it hadn't been easy to retrieve Marnie. But Fred had to remind himself that despite being denied access to Marnie's healing room, she was safe.

"They won't let us through," Fred explained with a harsh edge in his voice to which his father ignored.

Instead Fred saw that same pitying stare that made his heart wrench. His father had seen Marnie for his own eyes so Fred didn't feel confident now that his father was giving him this same look as all the others.

"They won't let me in either. Joss and Remus are with her now. Healer Poke, the same man who looks after her mother, is with her," Arthur explained grimly.

Fred inhaled sharply at this.

"Is she—" George asked with tense worry, daring to voice the question that was heavy in Fred's mind.

Arthur shook his head but his lack of outright denial made both brothers uneasy. Their father instead led them to a secluded corner in the waiting room and motioned for them to sit down.

"She knew who I was when I rescued her. She's a lot thinner and was still wearing her school robes, but despite a few of Malfoy's house guests giving us a hard time, it was pretty straight forward. She was even waiting in the hallway for us," their father ran a tired hand through his hair and Fred didn't miss his father's nervous tick.

"When you said she _knew_ who you were, what does that mean?" Fred steeled himself to ask his most dire question.

In response his father exhaled slowly and met both boys' gazes before he decided to answer.

"It's evident that Marnie was put under the Cruciatus curse. We don't know how many times or what she fully endured over the last month. I was there when she woke up… she's quite shaken up. It took the healers several minutes to calm her down and she didn't even recognise Joss or Remus right away. It seems she might be alright with them now, but it also seems like she doesn't know what's real and what's not," their father finished solemnly.

Fred appreciated his father's candid response but also couldn't stop picturing Marnie screaming awake into her dazed new reality. He didn't know if it was overconfident of him, but he could only think that he would be able to calm her down. He wanted so much to go and find her and wrap her into his arms. He would hold her and wait for her to return to him because he would never give up on her.

"It might be days or weeks even before anyone it allowed to go see her," their father finally spoke but both Fred and George settled into their seats.

"We're not going anywhere dad. We're going to stay here for a while and see what happens," George replied more forcefully this time.

But their father only nodded before telling them he would return to headquarters to fill everyone else in on the situation. Fred only hoped his father would be given a few moments to rest and get washed up, he looked like he really needed it.

Before he could leave, Fred stood up and silently embraced his father.

"Thank-you," Fred whispered and choked on the tears that were threatening to spill over as he leaned on his father's shoulder.

His father squeezed him tightly in return before nodding at the two boys. Seeing that they had both made up their minds to stay, Arthur finally took his leave and disappeared out of the waiting room.

"She'll be alright, Freddie. Marnie's brave, a bloody brilliant Gryffindor," George exclaimed proudly, making both boys smile despite the unshed tears in both of their eyes.

"Right, Georgie. Hare is safe and that's all that matters," Fred replied before both of them settled in, staring at the main doors for anyone they recognised or for word of Marnie.

XX

Waking up sent an unnerving feeling throughout my body as I felt the constricting blankets over top of me. I didn't care that I felt warmer than I had in a month or didn't feel dehydrated anymore because I still didn't know where I was. I wasn't home or anywhere familiar, so I didn't feel safe.

"Marnie. Marnie! Calm down sweetheart, I've got you," my father's voice pierced through my panicking mind even though he wasn't shouting.

I was half sitting up, ignoring the shooting pain throughout my body, looking around the room before I spotted my father and Remus standing over me.

"Dad?" my voice crackled but I couldn't quite trust my mind that this was real.

I had pictured him and Remus too many times to count while I was being tortured to stay grounded and fight off the impending insanity in my mind.

"J—Joss O'Hara is my father," I started my ritual to see if I could willfully change what I was looking at or confirm if this was real and that my family was actually in front of me.

"Yes darling, of course I'm your father," he replied but sounded uneasy.

I couldn't trust that such an answer was real.

"Re—Remus Lupin is my uncle," I continued, feeling the corners of my vision start to settle but the restlessness didn't abate.

I kicked off the blankets and fought back when some unknown man wearing a white coat came to put them back over me.

"Marnie, let us cover you up. You'll get cold," Remus took over for the man who I had kicked in the shoulder when he bent over me.

I didn't fight back against Remus but scowled at him when he went to tuck the blankets. Thankfully this caused him to just leave the blankets loosely over me. Not that warm blankets were some sort of torture device, but somehow something so constricting made my mind hazy and my stomach nauseous.

"Fr—Fred Weasley is my best friend," I continued speaking but the images in front of me didn't change to show me who I wanted to see.

It was still my father, uncle and some stranger in my room. I didn't know whether to feel relieved or panicked.

"Why is she saying all this?" my father asked but I couldn't think of an answer to give him.

If he was just in my mind then I wouldn't have to give him an answer, but if this was real life, well, I didn't have a good answer to that.

"I want to see Fred!" I felt myself growing impatient that the images in front of me weren't changing. "Why can't I see him! FRED!" I started calling out frantically but the three men in front of me descended upon me instead.

"It's alright darling. Fred is probably just outside," I could hear my father speaking but his words didn't matter.

I started thrashing around again, throwing the blanket off and then aiming wild fists at the man who returned to my side with his wand raised. I didn't want this stranger anywhere near me and braced myself for the Unforgivable Curse he was about to cast. But instead of feeling the unbearable pain I was used to, his nonverbal spell was soothing and I felt myself grow instantly sleepy.

I smiled at this at least, knowing that in the comfort of my own unconsciousness I would see that frock of red hair I was always chasing. I wanted to catch up to Fred and tell him I loved him, because I didn't know how much longer I was going to last before the darkness finally took over.

"Please, I just want to see Fred."


	76. St Mungo's

According to the chart on the wall that I was staring at, it was the day before Harry's birthday. And for the first time since waking up at St. Mungo's, neither my dad nor Remus were sitting in my room. Dad had told me yesterday that they wouldn't come until later today since they were finally picking up Harry from his miserable aunt's house. I was restless to see Harry, especially since no one had seen him since the day after the attack at the Ministry. But my brother wasn't the only one I was anxious to see. Apparently the twins had been taking turns sitting in the waiting room, when they weren't working at their new shop.

As a result of being holed up in my room for days on end, I had devised a number of plans to escape from my room to go to Diagon Alley to see their new shop. I knew if I made it to the waiting room unseen that whichever twin was sitting there would bring me out for a day trip to Diagon Alley. But there were several hinderances to this plan. First was the fact that I was still weak on my feet. Healer Poke had finally let me try standing yesterday, but I could only make it to the lavatory on my own before growing shaky and falling to the floor.

Apparently my knee had broken at some point during my detainment and had regrown improperly. The healers were able to reset it but the joint was still weak.

Second was the fact that although I wasn't mad, I still had some trouble keeping straight what was real. Sometimes when I woke up to see my father and Remus in the room I would start reciting my verses that I used to keep my mind steady, only to become more frantic when I couldn't control my reality like I wanted.

Healer Poke had explained it to my family that it was a coping mechanism I had acquired. But it upset my father to hear it even though the healer explained that it was probably what had kept me from going mad. A month under the Cruciatus Curse was unheard of in his career, and my mother was living proof of what was supposed to happen.

When Healer Poke came in on his morning rounds, I fixed my most steady gaze so he might grant me my wish today.

"Good morning, Marnie," he greeted with his professional smile.

"Are they here?" I asked eagerly, having worn through my patience during the hour I had already been restlessly awake.

His appraising look didn't seem as concerned as he had been in the beginning and I was taken aback when he finally offered a small smile in return.

"Well, your father and uncle are out so maybe having the Weasley boys in here would be a small step. I just want to keep the number of people in your room to a minimum for now since it seems you do better with less stimulus," Healer Poke scanned my charts again, looking much more patient than I felt.

But I forced my anxious hands to go still since I didn't want the healer to think that I was going to have another fit. I was grounded right now and didn't want to mess up my first chance to finally see Fred and George.

"Alright, I'll go get them. I already ran into them on my way in today," Healer Poke explained before stepping out of the room to go and retrieve my two best friends.

I allowed myself to excitedly thrum my fingers to let out some of my pent up energy. It was so stuffy in this room and I felt a sense of foreboding whenever I was alone and realised my mother had spent the last fourteen years just down the hall for a very similar prognosis. So I wanted to prove myself as quickly as possible so I could leave this place.

"Hare?" my gaze darted up to the door to see two excited looking redheads staring back at me.

I took a moment to close my eyes and then reopen them to establish that this was real life. I had to take this in small strides since I wanted to spend as much time as I was allowed with them instead of pushing myself too far into a fit. I needed to get better and also show the twins that there was nothing to worry about. Based on the fear I could see in their eyes, I knew they weren't just excited to see me. They were also relieved to finally see for themselves that I wasn't mad or seriously injured.

"Hi Fred… George. I'm so sorry I missed the opening of your shop," I started as the twins stepped into the room.

I couldn't think of anything else to say to them but also wanted them to know that I was really upset I hadn't been there like I promised. But this only earned me a double eye roll from the two of them. It did however cut the nervousness and was enough of an invitation for the twins to step comfortably into the room and each take a seat beside me.

"Merlin, she get's abducted and she's still apologizing," George replied with an easy smile.

But Fred looked far less relieved than his brother and only continued to stare at me intently.

"Freddie?" George asked, unsure of what his brother was thinking after seeing his girlfriend for the first time since they had left Hogwarts on their brooms.

A lot had happened in the past two months, most of which they hadn't been able to work through together. It had been the three of them for so long and dealing with Marnie's abduction separately had been unbearable on several different levels. And it seemed that Fred's grief was finally coming to the surface now that he was being confronted with Marnie in person.

"I couldn't protect you," Fred whispered as he moved to sit onto the foot of the bed.

"No one could Fred, it was my own damn fault," I replied, remembering clearly how Bellatrix had grabbed onto me the moment Harry caught up to us and used Voldemort's sudden arrival as a diversion to kidnap me.

The next moment I had been transported to the Malfoy Manor where I was tortured on and off for a month until apparently I was rescued by Mr. Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

When I sat up, I tried hiding the wince I felt at moving my very stiff body in order to grab onto Fred's hand. Feeling my touch, he turned but looked up to see how much I was struggling.

"For Merlin sake Hare, don't strain yourself on my account," Fred panicked and helped me to lie back down.

But I smiled through the pain and tried to get one out of Fred. He was always the most easy going out of the three of us and typically went through life bearing a grin. Now it was all I wanted just to see one cross his face.

"I want to protect you too, you know," I replied evenly.

In response to this I heard a scoff and looked over to see George's playful look of feigned annoyance. It felt right to be falling back into our trio, like the past two months hadn't kept us separated.

"You two are hopeless," George mocked.

But even though both boys were relaxing a bit, there was still a nervousness between us. I knew they had questions but I didn't know how stable I was to answer them. So far I was able to keep myself in the present, overwhelmed by my own happiness to be with them, but that could all change if I fell back into the past.

"So what's the shop like?" I asked, offering the twins an alternate topic of conversation than the overbearing one that heavily weighed between us.

They smiled at this and Fred moved to sit closer beside me on the bed, keeping hold of my hand. In return, they both reported how well the shop was doing and how Lee and the girls had really stepped up to help since they had spent a lot of time in the hospital over the past month. I frowned when they told me this, but they shrugged it off.

"It's brilliant! We're getting all the students on summer holiday and we're gearing up for once the school lists come out," George beamed excitedly.

I found it much easier to focus on things like the twins' shop since I knew without a doubt that it existed. It seemed that when it came to people, that's when my mind went fuzzy. Bellatrix had asked lots of questions about Harry and Dumbledore. She had also asked about Sirius and taunted me with his death. My mother and father were also used to threaten me, so I sometimes found it hard to focus on who was really with me and if those relationships in my head were real. Especially when I used people's names to ground me, sometimes I thought when people were right in front of me that they were actually being pictured in my head.

"Angelina suggested we have a section just for witches," George spoke through my thoughts, sounding very proud but I didn't miss the blush cross his face.

I smiled back at him and hoped that he and Angelina might give each other a chance to be happy. I also wondered if me being kidnapped and then being in the hospital hindered the possibility of my two friends entering into a relationship together.

"Yea, but you wouldn't like it Hare. It's mostly love potions and Pygmy Puffs. You would definitely like the prank section best," Fred added heartily.

He squeezed his hand in mine as we lay side by side. His other arm wrapped over my head on the pillow and I was able to lean into his side. His scent was another comforting way to keep me grounded. The smell of mint and gunpowder was as familiar as my cottage, making me feel safer that I had since leaving Hogwarts.

The twins kept talking about their shop, filling me in on their success and new product ideas. I asked about everything they had been up to, and the hours seemed to pass easily without any mention that I had been kidnapped and tortured for the past month. Fred and George didn't even mention the Department of Mysteries and I wondered if Healer Poke had ordered them not to. I knew better by now than to ask my own questions about the outside world since no one ever answered them. But dad did always assure me that Harry was safe and that I would be filled in once the healers allowed it.

But talking just the three of us was exactly what we all needed. I didn't want to have to recount or collect my thoughts to be able to explain what happened after I was taken from the Department of Mysteries. After a while I felt myself grow tired but only leaned further into Fred and let them continue regaling me with their stories. I didn't want to fall asleep yet but I let myself settle in the normalcy of it all instead.

"Marnie?" I didn't know how long it had been when the three of us looked up to see Healer Poke peaking his head in.

I smiled at him and saw the promising look he returned. I knew I had passed whatever test this was and hopefully that meant I could continue seeing the twins on an everyday basis.

"Sorry, but your father is here now and there's something we wanted to try today," Healer Poke explained in an enthusiastic voice.

I piqued at this, feeling motivated to make myself better enough to leave the confines of this locked ward.

"We'll come back tomorrow, love," Fred squeezed my hand reassuringly before he carefully moved to get off the bed.

George leaned over to kiss my forehead since I guess he assumed my body was too sore to properly give a hug. I smiled back at him appreciatively before he smiled and exited the room. Healer Poke grabbed my chart to add some notes, also giving Fred and me the chance for a moment of privacy.

Fred looked uneasy to be leaving me and suddenly I didn't want to be left alone either. I knew how much I had been missing the twins, but after spending the better part of the morning and early afternoon with the twins, it left me feeling uneasy now that they were leaving.

"I love you Hare, so much. I've been coming everyday and won't stop coming until I get to take you home. George and I have set up the loft above the shop and you can come stay with us if you want?" Fred said softly as his lips inched closer to mine.

He kissed me softly and I could only lean my neck forwards to deepen it since my arms were too slow to go over his shoulders before he was pulling away.

I also didn't get to ask Fred about the fact that he may have just asked me to move in with him and George before he left my room.

"Hi darling," my father stepped in right after Fred exited, probably having been waiting outside the door.

Healer Poke stayed in the room and closed the door behind my father.

"Where's Harry?" I asked eagerly and my father returned a warm smile.

"He's at home with Remus. As long as you have a good day today, I'll bring him along with Remus tomorrow. He's really eager to see you but Healer Poke sent an owl saying not to push it today since you visited with the twins and now we're going to try answering some questions," my father's voice dropped off at the end.

I stopped myself from arguing against not being able to see Harry, especially since I was feeling fine after my visit with the twins. But the offer to answer some of my questions was far too tempting to pass up.

"You're going to tell me what's been going on?" I asked eagerly, feeling my mind start reeling with the information I wanted; like where was Voldemort now and what was the Order doing to stop him?

"Yes Marnie, we think you've gotten enough rest for this. We know you've been very patient and have been asking questions about what happened. So, with your father in the room, we want to allow you to ask anything you want and we can begin our own assessment of how your treatment over the last month has effected your thoughts. So, if we can start, you may begin asking any question you want," Healer Poke officially gave me permission to speak.

It was nice to know this man had treated my mother over the years and was familiar to me even before he became my attending healer for the past few weeks. It had also been frustrating to be having terrible nightmares since I woke up in the hospital and everyone had been ordered not to talk about anything or answer any of my questions. Now, I felt anxiety rise up in my chest but swallowed it back down since I needed my questions answered.

"Sirius—is he dead?" I asked, knowing this was one of the last things I saw before Bellatrix abducted me.

It was also something she would talk about all the time in front of me as a form of torture all in itself. My father gasped in response and I turned my attention to him. I realised he was probably going to be the one to answer a lot of my questions since the healer wasn't privy to the Order's existence.

"Yes, he was killed by Bellatrix," my father replied solemnly.

Tears already clouded my eyes but I didn't let myself start crying yet. Also, since I believed he had been murdered, this wasn't new information, but it did still feel like someone was pulling at my heart.

"Did Voldemort possess Harry?" I continued, now remembering watching Harry laying on the ground as Bellatrix bound my mouth to prevent me from screaming out and led me to the fireplace where we escaped.

"Yes, He Who Must Not Be Named found out about his connection with Harry and used it to lure Harry to the Ministry. He then showed up himself and tried to kill Harry but Dumbledore arrived and saved him," I saw the pained look in my father's eyes.

Of course he must have been relieved that Harry was saved, but was he resentful that I had been taken in his place?

"Is Cedric dead?" I asked.

This time Healer Poke spoke up. I watched my father's eyes deepen in their sadness, maybe because I was asking about things that happened over a year ago.

"Yes Marnie, Cedric Diggory died during the Triwizard Tournament. It's even been confirmed by the Ministry now that it was at the hands of You Know Who," he answered more evenly than my father's replies.

"Did the brains turn Ron mad?" I inquired, remembering how they latched onto him.

"Ron is fine Marnie, he's even been in to see you," Healer Poke answered again.

The events from the Department of Mysteries were more or less lucid in my mind. I just wanted confirmation that my thoughts were real and also that everyone was safe. Also, confirming that Cedric and Sirius were dead allowed me to feel grief instead of frustration and enabled me to be able to move forward.

Healer Poke ended our question period soon after, not wanting to push me too far since I had yet to have another fit. I was given some Sleeping Draught and fell asleep to the sounds of my father murmuring with the healer, probably about his worries for bringing Harry tomorrow.

xx

"Listen Mr. O'Hara, I've been treating your wife for a long time, along with Alice and Frank Longbottom. I have a pretty good idea of how they got here fourteen years ago. I want your daughter to avoid a similar fate to your wife and I also want to keep my staff safe. I have already talked with Dumbledore and our first priority is to treat Marnie. That being said, none of the nurses are privy to what really happened to Marnie in detail and my notes are written in shorthand. Your secret is safe with me and I will make sure Marnie receives the best possible care," Healer Poke assured.

Joss exhaled, rubbing a tired hand over the back of his head.

"You're doing a good job, being a guardian to both Marnie O'Hara and Harry Potter. I'm sure the papers aren't reporting the full truth and I can tell you that only care for their health and safety. So let me do my job Mr. O'Hara and take on some of that burden. Marnie can ask any of her questions and I will make sure nothing is said outside of that room," both men nodded at this agreement before Healer Poke was summoned to another room over the PA system.

Joss was left standing in the corridor, wanting desperately to visit his wife and just talk to her about Marnie and how scared he was about her scattered memories. Or about Harry and how obviously under stress he is with the new rumours of him being the Chosen One to take down He Who Must Not Be Named. But with the thought of Harry in his mind, Joss turned and went to exit the hospital. Harry was really at Grimmauld Place instead of the cottage, where most of the Order was waiting, so Joss would return to try and talk to his adopted son. He loved both of the children whom he called his own, and only hoped he wasn't as useless to them as he felt.


	77. Enough For Now

Harry, Remus and my father ended up bringing a cake, made by Mrs. Weasley, over to the hospital the next day for Harry's birthday. He wasn't good at hiding the guilt that he felt from the Department of Mysteries. But instead of yelling at each other, which would have prohibited Harry from returning everyday to visit me, I opened my arms to him and let him feel his sorrow instead. Dad and Remus stepped out of the room to give us a moment to grieve together before Harry decidedly got up to cut into his birthday cake.

The twins also kept coming everyday, and usually were allowed in to see me unless I had a bad night. A bad night meant I would be woken up by my incorrigible nightmares and be too distraught to be settled without a strong Calming Draught.

But slowly, Healer Poke felt more and more confident in my progress until I was allowed to go home at the end of August.

This meant that Harry, dad and I moved back to the cottage since everyone felt I would do best somewhere familiar. The unspoken reason was that my dad was worried I would be set off over my grief of Sirius if we stayed at Grimmauld Place where he and Harry had been staying.

But when I followed my father into my childhood home, suddenly it felt too quiet compared to the city. And Harry was due to leave for school tomorrow which would leave only me and my father here.

"I'll get supper going," dad announced as soon as we were all inside, leaving the two of us to get settled.

Harry didn't bother bringing his trunk upstairs since he would be bringing it to the train station tomorrow. Instead, he helped me bring mine up to our shared room.

The two of us standing up there made the room seem a lot smaller than it ever had growing up. Harry and I were undeniably older than when he first moved in here; we were no longer thirteen and eleven. I had since graduated and Harry was going into his sixth year.

"So, the twins are bringing you to the shop tomorrow?" Harry asked, knowing already that this was the plan.

I had formed a routine plan with Healer Poke before I was able to be discharged. Since I hadn't applied to any real jobs yet, and no one was certain I should be dedicating myself to anything too demanding, the twins had agreed that I could work for them. I would be able to do whatever I could to help out, and then help with stock or something when I got overwhelmed. Plus, since the shop was doing so great, they could afford to hire me as an assistant.

"Yea, Fred's coming by after breakfast to escort me," I rolled my eyes, still hating that I needed a chaperone.

Everyone was afraid of how I would react in the city, surrounded by people. No one wanted me to separate from reality in the middle of muggle London.

Harry nodded encouragingly but I didn't miss the expression that told me something else was on his mind.

"Did something happen when you went to the shop to get your school supplies?" I asked, remembering dad talking about Mrs. Weasley bringing Harry out shopping when the school lists arrived.

Harry squirmed under my gaze and shrugged, poorly passing off my question. But I leveled my best older sister stare and watched Harry purposefully avoid my gaze.

"Harry, I'm not weak! I know Bellatrix had me in that basement for a month but I'm not worthless. Please, just tell me what you found or saw," I pleaded, hating that people were treating me different.

The twins didn't ask me about my time with Bellatrix even though I knew they were desperate for answers. Remus didn't bring up any Order business in front of me and now Harry was sidestepping my questions. Dad was the absolute worst, treating me like I had become breakable. And I know he was the one who told the Weasleys to be quiet and composed whenever they visited me in the hospital.

I missed the noise and liveliness of their family and hated the worry behind everyone's eyes. But my reaction elicited something else in Harry as he finally met my gaze.

"Marnie, I don't think you're weak! I think your loads brave to have survived all that. I know you'll continue with the Order when I'm gone, and I'm even counting on you to update me while I'm away because I know the others won't," Harry's look was serious and I nodded, a promise between us that we wouldn't coddle each other after all the misery we had already endured. "I—I just feel guilty. It should have been me. I was the weak one, being led there by Voldemort. Sirius died because I was too stupid to listen. Hermione was right, it was a trap," Harry sank down onto his bed and I walked over to join him.

I didn't offer any words since I knew there was nothing to fill the loss we both felt over Sirius. But I hoped my embrace told him that no one blamed him, and he was only acting in the interest of his godfather.

"I would have done the same thing, you know. If I knew what my dream was telling me I would have gone to the Department of Mysteries too," I finally spoke and Harry sat up to look at me.

"You had a dream too?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yea, that night before my final exam, I saw—" I deadpanned and tried to push the horrible images from my mind,.

I could hear my mother's screams ringing in my ears but kept my focus on Harry sitting beside me.

He must have sensed my hesitation since he leaned over to grab onto my hand and squeezed it slightly so I could feel the weight and ground myself.

"I saw her Harry. On the day she went mad. I—I saw it happen, like it was happening to me," I heard my voice stutter and Harry tightened his grip on my hand.

"I'm so sorry you saw that," Harry paused as he tried to picture what his sister must have seen, and on the night before Sirius died and she was taken by a deranged Death Eater.

But both of them knew, just like Harry's dreams meant something, so did Marnie's. Whereas Harry's were directly connected to Voldemort himself, Marnie's seemed to be tied with her mother's past.

"Why didn't you tell anyone you had that dream?" Harry asked.

I took a deep breath.

"I'm tired of being the victim Harry. While you've been running around being the hero, I'm always getting left behind or put in harm's way. I know how much everyone worries about my dreams, especially when they're nightmares. I was petrified by that stupid snake, I was knocked out by the fleet of dementors. And then my boyfriend was murdered and I wasn't even brave enough to be chosen as champion to be able to save him!" Harry flinched but didn't say anything as I continued. "I'm not the brave Gryffindor like everyone else. Alicia, Katie and Angelina are all exceptional quidditch players, able to take on the Slytherins no problem and beat them to boot. Lee found his place, easily helping out the twins and dating Katie. And then there's the twins, who don't care about anything that might get in their way. They've been set on opening that shop since we were in fourth year and now look at them, the youngest shopkeepers in Diagon Alley and making a killing doing it!" I knew my father would come up if he heard my increasing volume, but I couldn't help my heated confessions as they spilled out one after the other.

"Marnie, you can't believe that! You're the bravest Gryffindor I know! And look at our family and friends, they're all Gryffindors," Harry forced me to look at him as he laid out his argument with conviction. "Like me, you chose Gryffindor instead of going with the hat's suggestion. You thought you had more to prove so you chose Gryffindor for yourself and the hat agreed. You made friends with the twins right away, something that very few people are confident to do. They even make Ron feel uneasy, but don't tell him I told you that. And you don't play quidditch because you never wanted to, not because you're afraid. I love quidditch Marnie, but it is technically just a game. It doesn't single out those who are brave and those who aren't. I mean Malfoy plays and he's an absolute git!" Harry sneered at this but I was able to laugh lightly. "And Hemione also got petrified because Voldemort was going after muggle and squib-borns, not because you two were weak. You are both strong and smart and absolutely deserve to be Gryffindors. And we both fell to the dementors during my third year, but Remus says that's only because we've both been through a lot. I mean, you dream about Lena's attack so of course you fainted. But you also live just like everyone else, not succumbing to your own past. And losing Cedric and Sirius within a year of each other is absolutely horrible. And being kidnapped by arguably the worst Death Eater of them all and living to talk about it, no one has ever done that Marnie! I was so worried, waiting all alone, with hardly any news from Joss about whether you were alright or not. I watched the muggle news, waiting for any answer but it never came!" Harry's voice cracked and both of us were suddenly left speechless with our pasts laid out in front of us.

I was just shy of eighteen whereas Harry was only sixteen, and both of us had endured more than enough for our lifetimes, but the war hadn't even properly started. We both knew it would probably get worse before it got better, but it didn't bode well to think about the future until it actually got here. So instead Harry would go to school to learn more magic and I would officially join the Order, despite anyone's objections.

"Kids, dinner!" my father called from the kitchen and both of us slowly got up before exiting the bedroom.

Despite our intense conversation, I felt slightly better knowing Harry felt similar things to me. We both had flaws and self-doubts, but that only proved we were human.

XX

The next morning Remus arrived to bring Harry to King's Cross and dad side-apparated along with them. Harry and I both knew he was feeling anxious to see Harry leaving, but we had been through the whole home-schooling argument before when the Chamber of Secrets opened. Dad understood now how much Hogwarts meant to Harry and wouldn't let his own worries hinder Harry's needs.

I waved them off and re-entered the cottage when they disappeared. But I didn't even have enough time to even make myself a cup of tea before I heard someone apparate outside the wards. Remus and some of the other Order members had put them up to protect dad when he was alone, and also Harry and I since Harry was still underaged and I hadn't used my wand since the Department of Mysteries. Thankfully though, Bellatrix had only thrown it away before dragging me into the Floo, so Remus had found it and gave it back to me at St. Mungo's.

There was a familiar rapping at the door and I walked eagerly to open it.

"Hiya Hare," Fred greeted happily and immediately leaned in to kiss my cheek.

I felt a soft blush cross my cheeks and realised that Fred and I hadn't really been that intimate in a long time. He kissed me the first day at St. Mungo's and subsequently would give me a soft peck on the cheek whenever he visited with George, but it was never just the two of us like it was now.

So with this sudden realisation I stepped forward and wrapped my arms over his neck and pulled him down so I could find his lips. I breathed through my nose, taking in his minty scent that made my heartbeat quicken.

Fred was taken aback but quickly collected himself to kiss me back, fiercely and without abandon. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist and he didn't let me go until I finally paused to take a breath.

"Dammit George," Fred cursed under his breath when he pulled back and I looked at him dumbfounded.

"Erm Fred, I'm Marnie. Your girlfriend?" I brought my hand up to check his temperature but he swatted it away.

"I know that, Hare. It's just George said he would come track us down if I wasn't back with you in five minutes and now I can't stay here and have a proper snog," Fred's natural glint entered his gaze and I couldn't help but laugh at the normalcy of it all.

"Well, maybe we can make plans for after work?" I offered and watched as Fred lit up even more.

"Yea, you deserve a proper date. I'll kick George out for the evening and I'll even cook," I couldn't hide my immediate grimace and Fred made a look of mock offense.

"Hey, you've never even tried my cooking!" Fred continued to sound like I had shoved a dagger through his delicate ego.

"Alright, alright. I'll try your cooking. Now can we go see this shop of yours? I've been dying to see it!" I exclaimed excitedly but didn't miss the hardening of Fred's expression at the poor choice of words I used.

But he didn't say anything about it and instead leaned in to give me another kiss. This one was just as heated as the first but Fred cut it off with a smirk.

"Just a prelude to this evening," he winked before grabbing my hand and lightly pulled me outside.

I locked the door behind me since I didn't know how long my father would be, before Fred and I walked hand-in-hand outside the wards. Fred didn't let go of my hand and gave me a look that asked if I wanted to side apparate instead of apparating myself. I kept hold of his hand in answer and let myself be transported to Diagon Alley without having to focus on the use of my magic.

XX

I couldn't get over how well the shop was set up. Both of the twins gave me the executive tour which meant I was shown everything from the front displays, to the stockroom, to the flat both of them lived in upstairs.

Since it was the first day of school, it was reportedly a slower day at the shop. This meant I could ease in and watch the twins engage with the customers. They really did have a knack for it, upselling customers and helping others figure out different products. By the end of the day I was even taking a few customers and ringing them through at the till.

"Marnie!" I looked up a little startled at the end of the day to see Angelina walking through the door before George locked it behind her.

I came around and let her embrace me but ignored the sniffles I heard over my shoulder. Angelina quickly rubbed her eyes and pretended seeing me wasn't such a big deal when she stepped back.

"I thought you were in training today?" I asked, knowing Angelina had been recently recruited by the Appleby Arrows.

"Yea, but practice is over and I was asked to get George out of your hair for the evening," Angelina winked but I was more curious about their developing relationship than her assumptions on mine and Fred's.

They didn't stay around too long once we all chipped in to clean up the shop. Angelina practically dragged George out, leaving Fred and I alone.

Once Fred turned out the lights he took my hand and led me upstairs. Surprisingly, he already had the ingredients out on the counter and went over to start cooking.

"Thirsty?" Fred asked as I took a seat at the counter to watch him and he set out a glass of pumpkin juice before I could even answer.

I smiled and took enjoyment in watching Fred try and make something edible. He only set a small fire and burnt the vegetables.

"How is it that you make spectacular joke products but you burn a casserole?" I asked jokingly once it was ready and Fred carried it out to the small kitchen table.

"It's not the same thing!" Fred admonished while II shook my head and laughed.

"No, what you do is far more difficult so cooking should come naturally," I chuckled and let Fred serve me a crispy helping of meat and veggies.

"Just shut up and eat, Hare," Fred laughed and shook his head.

I joined him since it felt good to just laugh over the little things. It felt so easy being here with him, more comfortable than I had felt since being at Hogwarts.

Fred tried his best to keep his face neutral but I kept laughing as he made faces at his own plate. It obviously wasn't as good as his mother's or Hogwarts and suddenly I was curious as to how he and George had been getting by since they moved in here.

"Fred?" I asked once he got up to clear the plates when it was apparent we couldn't stomach anymore.

It wasn't really that bad, especially compared to the hospital food I had been eating over the past month. I did really miss Posy's carrot cake though and wondered if I could get Harry to send a care package from school.

Fred hummed at me, his eyebrows raised with a charming smile.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?" I asked calmly, having been rehearsing this all day in my head whenever there wasn't a customer to engage.

Fred's easy smile vanished and it was replaced by his shaken anxiety.

"It's alright Fred, really," I pressed and watched as Fred set down the casserole pan and motioned for me to join him on the couch.

Fred sat down first and drew me in by the arm so I was sitting right beside him. Our thighs were pressed together so I had to look up to meet Fred's gaze. It was obvious he was nervous but Fred wasn't one to let trepidation slow him down. He had been waiting months for answers and now I was finally giving him the opportunity to ask his burning questions.

"I've had so many questions since the minute I found out you went missing. We knew something was wrong because mum arrived in the middle of the night and we still hadn't really been on speaking terms at that point. It was like- my whole world shifted in an instant and I hated not knowing anything. But now that you're here, all I want to know is if you can forgive me?" Fred's voice was serious, something I wasn't used to seeing on him.

I felt my eyes widen but I wasn't completely surprised Fred had somehow warped this situation around to be his fault. It was something he had been doing since the first day we met.

"And what am I forgiving you for this time?" my reply was more playful but Fred remained stoic.

"For leaving Hogwarts without you. It was such a selfish choice, and I wasn't there when you needed me. I should have been there," Fred's voice dropped to a whisper but the silence between us made it easy to hear him.

"Fred listen- it was my fault I got taken. I let my guard down, and even though I felt I had a good reason to after seeing Sirius murdered, it still got me kidnapped. I don't know if you being there would have changed the outcome, but I don't wish you were part of it. It was horrible and scary and I'm glad it was me and not anyone else. I know you wish for something different, but that's what happened and all we can do is keep going forward. I have to put it behind me Fred," I paused and heard my voice crack. "I just have to or it'll consume me."

The healers had worked their magic, quite literally, but my mind was still a garbled web of fear, panic and pain. It would take a lot longer to rework myself back to normal and I didn't want anything changing because of that; especially how Fred loved me.

But as it was Fred's nature, he immediately donned his mischievous smile and went back to his normal. He no longer looked scared or intimidated that his girlfriend had been a Death Eater's captive but that he wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening like these kinds of dates were normal.

We both knew I had been tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, on and off, everyday, for a month. I had been taken to Malfoy Manor where Voldemort was also holing up, something the Ministry apparently was now willing to admit. The Order would ask their questions at their next meeting, something Remus had already warned me about and both Fred and George would be by my side. So for now, we wouldn't let the past weigh us down.

"Do you want dessert, Hare?" Fred asked, getting to his feet as he spoke.

He kissed me softly on the forehead before he walked back to the kitchen which was open to the living room and the table we had eaten at, although I wouldn't call it a dining room.

"That depends. Did you make it?" I smirked and Fred returned a look of mock insult.

And just like that, it was Fred and me like old times. Of course things had changed, but it wouldn't come between us. Fred was no longer insecure about our relationship since we ended up together and I wasn't willing to give up on having a relationship just because my mind was confused sometimes.

"Come on Hare, I'll take you to Fortescue's; my treat," Fred grabbed our coats from the hook where we had deposited them this morning and then I followed him out into the darkening streets of Diagon Alley.

For now, this was more than enough.


	78. It Takes Time

"I'm sorry to call you at this hour, but I don't know what else to do at this point," Joss O'Hara said as he quickly invited his late night guest into the house.

Fred, despite having apparated here, was soaking wet from walking the short way to the O'Hara residence in the pouring rain. Mr. O'Hara didn't have to explain the situation though as Fred was cut off from asking any questions when the two men heard an ear-splitting shriek from upstairs. Mr. O'Hara ran back up while Fred followed at his heels. Fred allowed himself to cast a quick drying spell as Mr. O'Hara opened the first door on the right down the small hallway which Fred already knew was Marnie's from childhood.

Mr. O'Hara remained in the doorway while Fred stepped forward and crouched down beside Marnie's twin bed. The other bed in the room was vacant since Harry was away at school.

"Hare? Hare, wake up love, it's just a nightmare," Fred said as soothingly as he could but ended up being quite loud to be heard over her screaming.

"Fred?" Marnie screamed out, opening her eyes but she continued looking wildly around the room.

Fred watched and suspected that Marnie couldn't actually see the real room around her. It was like she was stuck in whatever dreamscape she had been in and couldn't break free. Fred reached out and grabbed onto her hand before pressing his thumb down to apply moderate pressure as an attempt at a grounding technique. He watched as Marnie's attention shifted down to where he was holding her hand which meant she must have felt it.

"Hare, it's Freddie. Love, you're safe. Come back to me, Hare, I'm right here," Fred said more softly, Marnie's screaming turning into sobs instead as she finally woke up from her nightmare.

Fred moved onto the bed to sit beside her before she ended up throwing her arms around him and cried into his lap where she laid her head. Fred finally looked up to meet Mr. O'Hara's eyes who looked overly distraught by how affected his daughter was from her month-long abduction.

"Feel free to take Harry's bed. I'm going to go make some tea before I head back to bed myself," Mr. O'Hara announced sadly before he stepped away from the door once Marnie's cries were much softer.

"Please stay," Marnie whimpered before moving all the way over so her back was against the wall.

Fred wasn't going to argue with such a request, even if her father came back and saw them sleeping in the same bed together. He lifted the blanket and crawled in beside her into the single sized bed. Fred was used to it since this was the same size they shared at Hogwarts, but Mr. O'Hara didn't need to know about that. Plus, Fred figured he probably wouldn't get much sleep anyway with the state Marnie was in. Marnie did eventually go back to sleep and an hour after her breathing evened out, Fred let himself doze off beside her. When he opened his eyes a few hours later at the rising sun, Fred realised he had never heard Mr. O'Hara come back up from the kitchen.

Marnie was in a deep enough sleep that Fred managed to extricate himself and leave her before he tiptoed downstairs to find Marnie's dad sitting at the dining room table with a tea cup in front of him. Fred recognised it as one of those magical warming mugs and figured Marnie must have gotten it for him at some point.

"How is she?" Mr. O'Hara's voice was hoarse and Fred wondered how long he had tried to soothe his daughter before he asked Remus to send Fred a patronus alert. The sudden whispy wolf entering Fred's bedroom had scared the pants off of him but he had heeded the message almost immediately.

"I think she's exhausted but she's been sleeping for a couple hours now," Fred reported and accepted a cup from Mr. O'Hara as he sat down across from him.

Mr. O'Hara nodded and Fred realised it had never been just the two of them like this. Marnie had been almost single-handedly raised by this man and he had trusted Fred enough to summon him here last night. Fred made a vow to make more of an effort to spend more time with him properly.

"She's been doing so well, but lately she hasn't been able to sleep very much," her father explained and Fred nodded, Marnie having told Fred as much.

"You're only doing your best, sir. It's the only thing you can do," Fred reasoned.

But Mr. O'Hara changed tracks and offered Fred a small smile. "You boys are doing a wonderful thing with that shop of yours, we need a reminder that magic can be good in a time like this."

Fred nodded and thanked him before taking another sip. He thought of how difficult it must be to be in Marnie's father's position, watching from the sidelines how magic one-by-one harms his family. His wife and daughter receiving a similar fate while Harry struggles from being the Chosen One. In his eyes, magic might not be as wonderful as it had always been for Fred.

"Ready for work?" Marnie's unexpected voice called out as she came down the staircase and into the kitchen.

Fred took a final gulp of tea and nodded, looking at Marnie uneasily since there was no way she got enough sleep. But Fred knew it was useless arguing against her which only threatened to set her off.

Mr. O'Hara stood up and embraced his daughter firmly, whispering good-bye into her ear before Marnie grabbed onto Fred's hand and led him out of the house.

Fred knew Marnie well enough to assume she had heard most of his conversation with her father. But he also knew how much Marnie hated being coddled by everyone so he avoided bringing it up.

"I was thinking…" Marnie started off and Fred could hear her slight hesitation.

Fred lifted his eyebrows at her and they both stopped just outside the wards.

"Were you serious in the hospital when you said I could stay with you and George?"

Marnie looked more determinately at him now and Fred didn't want to believe his luck in case he had misheard.

"Of course," Fred replied heartily, causing Marnie to beam back at him.

"I'm not moving in, just yet anyways, but I want to try it out and see how it goes. Plus I always sleep better with you, and dad isn't sleeping very much having to wake me up every night," Marnie explained while Fred just nodded along contentedly.

Of course he was worried about Marnie, he probably hadn't been so worried about anything in his life. But all his brain could focus on was the fact that Marnie was going to stay with him at the flat. It was already something he had run past George and he knew it wouldn't be an issue. It would be like Hogwarts, but no half-naked Lee and more freedom. He couldn't help his excitement and leaned down to grab Marnie into a full embrace and fervent kiss.

Marnie smiled into his lips and it was the best feeling in the world.

"You sure you won't mind?" Marnie asked again when she pulled back. "I'm not the most easygoing roommate."

Marnie gestured towards her head, like she was motioning that all her problems were unseen and embedded within her mind.

Fred took her face between his hands and pressed a feather-light kiss to her forehead, lingering for a moment before he heard a soft hum of contentment from Marnie.

"Hare, you're the perfect roommate. Don't ever think that what happened to you is a burden. Nothing about this moment is ruined because you get nightmares. I'm a seventeen-year-old bloke who was just propositioned to move in with his girlfriend!" Fred beamed and watched Marnie fall back into her old self, without all the anxiety and nervousness.

Her smile was mischievous and Fred wanted to kiss it off her face but was stopped when Marnie finally pulled back and apparated in front of him. It was the first time Fred had seen Marnie use magic and he knew she would keep fighting until she fought whatever nightmares continued to crash around in her mind.

XX

"Hey. Hey! It's alright Marnie, I'm right here, you're safe!" Fred exclaimed through my sobbing and laboured breathing.

"You're here with me at the flat. We fell asleep and you just had a nightmare," Fred soothed as he held me tightly and stroked my hair.

It took several minutes to get my breathing under control before I just silently wept into his chest.

"Fred?" I whispered without moving from his embrace.

"Hmm?" he replied softly, probably wanting to avoid startling me.

On a trial basis, I had been staying with Fred most nights over the past week. My father had been more willing than I initially assumed, but he had also been the one hearing my screams each night.

I continued to tremble into Fred's chest and grasped onto his warmth. It was the only thing that told my body that I was no longer lying on the cold cement floor of Malfoy Manor.

"Wou—would it be alright if I asked you what's real?" I asked in a hoarse voice.

"What do you mean?" Fred's reply was more confused than worried and I thanked Merlin that Fred took every strange demand I had in complete stride.

The other day at work when I had needed to touch each of the products for tactile information, Fred had just followed me around the floor and happily explained all of the products like I was their number one customer.

"Well, when I wake up from my nightmares sometimes they make me feel like I'm still being tortured. It's more rare but when I wake up like this it's hard to grasp reality from my imagination."

I could feel Fred tense at this before he drew me closer to his body.

"Of course, Hare," he whispered in reply.

I wondered if maybe he was trying not to cry but I didn't want to move out of his embrace to check.

"Is there something you want to ask me right now?" he asked after a moment of heavy silence with only my laboured breathing between us.

"I—is Cedric dead?"

I could feel Fred swallowing hard before he answered. "Yes."

"Did we graduate Hogwarts?"

"You did, George and I cut just before the end of term."

"Is your father alive?"

"Yes, Harry saw him getting attacked by the snake and got help in time."

I had to give it to Fred, he understood me better than I did my own brain. He didn't pause for any of my questions and instead gave me an honest answer. The fogginess around my vision started to clear but I still felt my mind tugging towards the void that terrified me.

"D-do you love me?"

This time Fred gently removed my arms from around him and positioned me so I was looking him in the eyes.

"Yes."

Although his response was simple, his expression was fierce with certainty. I nodded, wiping the last of my tears away. I could see him in front of me even though the nighttime darkness was still hazy around us.

I watched as Fred's expression softened before we heard a soft tapping at the door. Fred slowly left the bed, all the while watching me to make sure I didn't panic from him leaving. When Fred opened the door he peered down since nobody was standing there.

"George was worried too," Fred announced as he bent down and grabbed the glass of warm milk that was sitting just beside the doorway.

He crossed back through the bedroom in a few swift strides before handing me the glass. Fred immediately climbed back into bed behind me so I could sit and lean back into his arms while we both laid there.

"I hate worrying you both," I said.

Even though my thoughts quieted some more, it was always hard to grasp reality in the first moments after waking up from those nightmares that felt like I was back being tortured by Bellatrix. I hated the thought that maybe what had ultimately driven my mother into insanity was the separation from reality and torture.

"Well, we both love you so don't worry about it. George doesn't want you to suffer anymore than I do," Fred replied with a kiss on the top of my head.

I handed him my empty glass when I was finished which he leaned over to place on the bedside table.

"What did Harry want in his letter?" Fred prompted lightly but I could tell by his tone that it was only a suggested topic.

"Harry?" my voice came out uneasy as I tried to remember what Fred was referring to.

"Your brother sent you a letter from Hogwarts today," Fred added before he kissed the top of my head again.

I knew he was giving me more information than was usually necessary for normal people, but he wasn't condescending or even obvious with his prompting.

Fred reached over me to the nightstand on my side of the bed before pulling a piece of parchment so we could read it together. I remembered seeing the familiar snowy owl today but the contents of the letter weren't coming back to me.

I unfurled it and recognised the messy scrawl and could instantly see a boy who was now taller than me, with dark hair and round glasses in my mind's eye.

Fred chuckled over my shoulder so I peered down to see what he was finding so amusing.

 _Marnie,_

 _I just heard from Joss that you are living with Fred on a part time basis. I hope it will help with the nightmares but as your brother I'm still not crazy about the idea. Please write back and tell me how you have been doing._

 _I also wanted to ask about the Order but Joss says the next meeting is coming up. Remember your promise. And speaking of our promise, things at Hogwarts are intensifying. Hermione, Ron and I saw Malfoy when we were at Diagon Alley and I now suspect he's up to something. Tattoo on his arm something. Hermione thinks I'm paranoid but I'm sure I'm right._

 _Stay safe Marnie and I'll write soon. Hogwarts isn't the same without you._

 _Your brother,_

 _Harry_

"I wouldn't doubt that Malfoy is a Death Eater," Fred agreed when I rolled the parchment and put it back on the table. My mind was focused on Harry's letter now which meant that my thoughts were clearer and could be strung together. I nodded in agreeance but my subsequent yawn had Fred casting off the lights.

"Remind me to have a word with Harry at Christmas," Fred whispered in my ear as I started to drift off in his arms.

Fred was still behind me but made no move to rearrange our sleeping position. I smiled and made a non-committal hum since I didn't really know what type of conversation Fred would want to have with Harry about our new sleeping arrangement. I wouldn't let Fred get away with embarrassing me. But my mind was finally clear and sleep filled in the gaps until I drifted off in Fred's arms.

The next morning over breakfast, Fred filled George in on Harry's letter and the both of them had a good laugh. But the conversation soon turned to Harry's suspicion of Malfoy and both twins agreed it was possible and most likely probable that Malfoy had joined the Death Eaters.

"I was in his bloody house for a month, I would be surprised at this point if he didn't have the tattoo on his scrawny pale arm," I retorted.

Both twins nodded but didn't say anything and I knew I had hit a nerve. But neither of them said anything and we continued our meal while George changed the subject to Angelina's quidditch season. He still hadn't asked her out formally yet, but I was giving them all the unsubtle prompts that they were being pretty obvious.

xx

The three of us fell into a tentative routine, neither of the twins complaining about my odd habits. Instead they answered any of my questions that all must have sounded peculiar.

We opened and worked at the store everyday, closing it together before deciding what to do in the evenings. Often Angelina or Lee would come by, sometimes with Katie and Alicia joining us. Other times it was the three of us, or even just the two of us when Fred decided we needed a date.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Fred asked quietly one Thursday night once the shop was closed.

This was the first time I could remember Fred looking remotely doubtful and I had to give him credit that it had taken this long.

"I have to join Fred, I just have to," I replied evenly and Fred nodded beside me.

His expression gave him away and I knew he was tied somewhere between being worried that I had been progressing pretty well over the last couple weeks and that joining the Order was something we had been talking about ever since it got reinstated. Fred knew my mind was made up, but he still wanted to voice his concern. I remembered a very similar dream I had had back at Hogwarts, seeing my father asking my mother one time to consider not joining the Order to stay at home with us. But like my mother had answered, I was confident this was something I needed to do.

Fred took my hand and we met George and Angelina outside near the Leaky Cauldron. Since it was a short walk and Dumbledore figured the fewer persons who apparated would cause less of a disturbance, the four of us walked like we were just out to enjoy the late autumn evening.

When we arrived at Grimmauld Place, I couldn't help but jolt at how painfully familiar this house felt. I looked up at the staircase and pictured Sirius walking down which only sent painful stabs through my stomach.

Fred leaned back and grabbed my hand, squeezing it but not saying anything as I followed him down the hallway towards the kitchen. He knew I didn't want to appear weak, even though Fred constantly told me how brave I was for being this healed already. But we both knew it would be an argument to get me into the Order officially if I had a breakdown in the foyer of headquarters.

"Marnie, dear. It's so good to see you," Mrs. Weasley bustled over from her place in front of the stove to pull me into a motherly embrace.

I could hear her sniffle over my shoulder but she didn't say anything and I was grateful for it. Remus was next who hugged me but the look in his expression told me he felt uncertain that I was ready to be here this soon. Tonks waved but it was far less energetic than I was used to seeing. If I didn't know any better I would say she was depressed, but then I did remember Harry mentioning something about Tonks being sullen lately. I sat down beside her after my father brought me into another hug that lasted longer than I wanted in front of so many people.

Tonks mumbled her greeting but I didn't take it personally. I actually liked someone who wasn't treating me any different, even if I was concerned for her own well-being.

Dumbledore entered shortly after with Mr. Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt in tow. I was somewhat shocked to see Dumbledore here outside of Hogwarts when school had already started, but being the headmaster obviously afforded him such privileges.

Dumbledore didn't say anything about my presence but his twinkling eyes danced over me and I knew he didn't have an issue with me being here like some of the others. Shortly after, Mad-Eye stood up to start the meeting. Kinglsey gave a report from the Ministry that Mr. Weasley supported with his own intel. It seemed Rufus Scrimgeour wasn't as daft and useless as Fudge had been for Minister for Magic, but there was still some things left to be desired.

I knew they were changing topic when most everyone turned their attention, either overt or subtle, onto me.

"There's nothing new with the Malfoy's. Lucius was arrested after we found Marnie in his manor, but that was all we were able to do. Lucius took the fall for his family and there was no trace of You Know Who even though we are aware that he was there during the month of July. We think we have all the information, but if there was anything you wanted to add…" Mad-Eye's magical eye landed on me and I couldn't help swallowing deeply before clearing my throat.

Fred's hand found my thigh under the table but no one else could feel my tension. I hoped it wasn't obvious when I shook my head as purposefully as I could.

"I never saw the outside of the dungeon and only Bellatrix attended to me, plus the house elves when they wanted me to eat," I explained with a sort of detached tone.

Fred's grip tightened and everyone else around the table remained silent for a moment before Mad-Eye nodded and proceeded onto the next topic.

"Here's the new schedule for Hogwarts duty. O'Hara, you're on it as of tomorrow night. Tonks asked for you, so you'll be paired up with her for the most part. We also have you with the twins and Remus," Mad-Eye nodded to show that the meeting was over as suddenly as he had started it.

I caught Dumbledore's eye once more before he stood up and was led out by Kingsley Shacklebolt. I wanted to avoid any more looks of pity or sympathetic embraces so I nudged Fred that I wanted to leave. I hugged my father as I went by, telling him I would be staying in London tonight with the twins. I knew this meant he would probably stay at Grimmauld Place with Remus which would be better for him than returning to the cottage alone.

What I wasn't expecting was to find Dumbledore standing alone in the hallway, Kinglsey obviously having already left.

"Might I have a word?" Dumbledore's voice was kind and he motioned his head to indicate going up to the first story landing where the parlour was located.

I nodded, and Fred motioned he would wait back in the kitchen with his mother.

I continued on to follow Dumbledore up and couldn't help by being shocked at how such a tall and regal man had such light footfalls.

Once we entered the parlour, Dumbledore motioned for me to take a seat across from him.

"Harry requested that I personally check in on you and give him a full report of how I assess you are doing," Dumbledore explained with a kind expression that held a hint of amusement.

I nodded. "He worries too much about me."

Dumbledore nodded at this. "It is a response to how strong your bond is as siblings. I remember how close James and Sirius were, two boys who chose to regard one another as siblings."

Bringing up Sirius in his house like this made my breath catch and Dumbledore must have heard it.

"I am sorry Marnie. I would not be at all surprised if you held some animosity towards me. I was not able to get you out of that dreadful dungeon sooner, and I have seen your expression over the years that you wish I had done more for Harry. I quite remember your expression after Harry was chosen to be the fourth champion and I knew I might have lost your confidence all together by that point," Dumbledore explained candidly.

I folded my hands in my lap, trying to find how I really did feel about my old Headmaster. Of course he was a well-regarded wizard and our best chance at taking down Voldemort, but I needed to think about my personal regard for him instead.

"Harry is a difficult person to keep safe, and I blame myself more for his pain than anyone else. And as for my rescue, all I think about that is that I'm glad I was the one taken. No one else should suffer and I know that you and everyone else tried their best. I'm alive and here because of the Order," I replied but watched the twinkling flicker out of his eyes.

Dumbledore looked sad and his tone reflected it. "You are so much like your mother, taking on the burdens of others into your heart. Harry is fortunate to have such a person looking out for him. I will endeavor to follow your example Marnie. And in return, for Harry's sake and everyone here who cares for you, look after yourself."

I could feel the soft tears escape my eyes but I nodded and quickly wiped them away. Dumbledore stood up and took my hand to lift me to my feet but didn't embrace me. I was glad for it, to be treated with both concern and respect simultaneously. It was something the headmaster must have perfected over the years.

When we returned back downstairs, this time Dumbledore exited promptly and Fred was by my side before I could even go looking for him. I was relieved that I could make a quick getaway while Fred took my hand to lead me back towards Diagon Alley.

"Is everything alright, Hare?" Fred's tone was easy, curious about what Dumbledore had wanted.

"Did I ever thank you, properly I mean, for always taking care of me?" I asked, thinking over Dumbledore's words and realising how assuring it had been to hear about my own concern for Harry and the others.

Fred turned his head and smiled. He looked like his ego was boosted but I could also see the kindness in his eyes.

"Someone's gotta save you from your own hero complex," Fred chided lightly.

I shoved his shoulder playfully, feeling as the last of my nervousness dissolved into laughter. Tomorrow I would join the Order while continuing to make myself better. Tonight it was just Fred and I, two best friends in love.


	79. Kid Gloves

The view of the castle tonight was almost eerie how quiet it was. The evening was chilly and all the students were presumably just sitting down for dinner. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the meals prepared by the house elves or my late night ventures down to visit Posy and Dobby. I had since assumed the responsibility of making dinner since the twins were even worse at it than me. We agreed that we wanted more edible food so they decidedly cleaned up instead.

The night before I had sent a letter to Harry informing him that I was now officially part of the Order but I thought it best to leave out my schedule for Hogwarts duty in case the letter was intercepted.

Tonight I was paired with Tonks and it was still apparent how sullen she was acting. Her hair was coloured dull brown instead of its usual bright pink and her attitude was almost indifferent. I tried not to take it too personally, especially since I didn't know how eager the other Order members were to be paired up with the Girl Who Almost Went Mad; not the same ring to it as the Chosen One or the Boy Who Lived. I would put up with Tonks' moodiness to avoid being babied by anyone else or be kicked out altogether.

I kept a light pace around the grounds of the school, wishing I could stop in to see Hagrid since the light was on in his hut. But Tonks and I continued our rounds, meeting each other in the middle and taking turns with which sides we kept survey on.

"What was Remus like, when you were growing up I mean?" Tonks asked randomly mid-way through our shift, when I could feel my trainers becoming soggy from the dew on the grass.

I accepted Tonks' invitation to walk around together which was only indicated by her pleading expression and impatiently asked question.

"Erm- he was great. I mean it was always pretty cool with just dad and me, but when Harry came to live with us, it was like the four of us became a little family. Remus has always been there for me," I replied honestly, surprised Remus was the one Tonks wanted to talk about.

From some of my hushed conversations with Harry at St. Mungo's whenever dad stepped out to go get a tea, he would fill me in on the more interesting details. One of those being that Harry suspected Tonks was having a difficult time of it over Sirius' sudden death. I didn't understand how Remus fit into the equation.

But maybe Dumbledore or my dad or the others forbade anyone from bringing up such a raw topic whenever I was on duty. One couldn't risk setting off the Girl Who Almost Went Mad when we were tasked with keeping the school safe. I tried not taking it personally and humoured Tonks instead. She kept speaking as we made our way around the grounds, passing by the Black Lake.

"And his... moon problem… he never abandon you or your family because of it?" Tonks sounded exasperated but I didn't know what the right answer was for this situation.

Remus was always so private about being a werewolf, even if most of wizarding Britain knew about it now thanks to Snape and his petty revenge in my fifth year.

"Erm- no, I mean I always knew about his condition but he wasn't allowed in the house during the full moon. He did stay and recover in his bedroom at the cottage though every month," I explained, feeling uneasy now with the suspicion that I was somehow throwing Remus under the proverbial bus.

Tonks scoffed at my reply, further supporting my uneasy assumption, but she didn't say anything more. Instead we parted ways and continued our traipsing around the grounds.

After our brief conversation I felt a lot of things that I couldn't necessarily string together in my mind. Instead of further wondering about Tonks and Remus's connection to each other, I thought about my abrupt exit from Hogwarts last year. I didn't have a proper send off for my graduation like I always dreamed. Instead, I left Hogwarts promptly on the back of a thestral, making this my first time back since then. If I was being honest, I felt that my Hogwarts experience was good up until the third event of the Triwizard Tournament. After that, despite the efforts of my friends and especially Fred, the castle had felt haunted. I didn't want that to be my parting feelings for the school that had been my home for so long. I met my best friends there, reconnected with my brother, and ultimately fell in love- twice- within the walls of the castle. Despite all the pain and suffering that sometimes still flooded my mind and made me feel fragile, I didn't want the pain to be what defined my experience.

Somewhere within the walls Harry was still there, going to classes, making new memories with his friends, and maybe even finding his own love- but hopefully not with Cho Chang. Harry also didn't have a normal school experience, with Voldemort always out to get him. But that's why I was here and had joined the Order, to keep everyone safe, even if I felt weak.

Despite contemplating the events that scarred my memories, my first shift with the Order was fairly uneventful. But since those who were in-and-out most days from Grimmauld Place had wanted to make sure I survived my first shift, both Tonks and I returned to headquarters once Dedalus Diggle and Mundungus Fletcher arrived to take our places.

Tonks and I stayed quiet for our short journey and my previous worry that she hadn't wanted to be partnered with me or was still too upset over Sirius's death quickly turned into scepticism over what she was actually so upset about; enough to dilute and interfere with her metamorphmagus abilities.

Our entrance into Grimmauld Place was met with the sound of raised voices from the kitchen. I grabbed onto Tonks when she fell since I didn't want to let on that we had arrived yet. I knew they were talking about me, hearing my name uttered by Mad-Eye of all people.

"O'Hara survived that torture chamber and is on duty three months after Kingsley got her out," his voice was gruff and decisive and I was so glad to have him in my corner.

I worried that if Mad-Eye had said no above anyone else, I wouldn't be able to be part of the Order.

"And it is precisely why it has been only three months that we should be worried. She still does that mumbling thing whenever she gets overwhelmed, having to confirm who everyone is in her head. What if Bellatrix tries to breach Hogwarts, will Marnie even be able to fight back?" my father's voice was the opposite of Mad-Eye's, sounding unsure and worried.

I tensed at the fact that they were talking about me like this. We had already had a meeting discussing if I was ready for duty, and with Dumbledore's approval I was now an active member. This secret meeting of theirs, despite any good intentions, grated on my nerves. Tonks stayed uncharacteristically still at my side, looking even more sullen than she had been all evening. A couple months ago I would have expected her to get angry, maybe even clumsily barge into the meeting on my behalf, but now she stayed rooted in place. I still valued her solidarity even if her behaviour had changed, I couldn't fault her for that when we had all already been through so much.

"Has Fred said anything about the nightmares, is she getting better with those?" Mrs. Weasley's voice was also full of concern and I tried hard not to include her in my sudden irritation.

Mrs. Weasley was always the voice of concern, for all her children and those she considered like her children, equally. Her comment wasn't as surprising as the other ones. But I figured either no one knew the answer or someone shook their head since no one commented vocally about whether Fred had given a report. I was internally grateful for this, knowing Fred would never give a report on me behind my back. I always trusted Fred and he had already given me his support for joining the Order.

"I don't doubt Marnie's capability. She is a bright young witch who has overcome some impossible feats, but are we putting too much on her? We expect so much from her and Harry, and they are both still so young. Neither of them should ever have been at the Department of Mysteries, and Marnie being taken is proof of that," Remus finally interjected.

I felt more betrayed by Remus's comment since he was always more on our side, advocating against my father when he became too paternal. I wasn't the only one though who his comment had a negative impact on since Tonks shifted her weight beside me and I heard a collective pause from the other side of the door.

"You knew they were here Mad-Eye!" Molly chastised, assuming who it was before anyone even opened the door.

I didn't wait to see who opened it first, turning on my heel instead. Me coming here after my shift had been their idea but it was now apparent to me that this had been a setup to once again try and talk me out of being an Order member. At this point I didn't care how old I was or if I was considered traumatised. Everyone in that room had lost people and been through their own misery. Even if mine and Harry's was alarmingly stacked up, we were still dedicated to taking down Voldemort and protecting those we loved.

I knew Tonks had followed me out but neither of us said anything, wanting instead to get away before anyone made it outside.

"See you next week, Marnie?" Tonks asked, making her view known that she considered me an adequate ally.

I smiled back at her gratefully before she nodded in confirmation and disapparated a moment later. I followed suit, turning on the ball of my foot before appearing in front of the Leaky Cauldron. Everyone would know where I was going so I continued on quickly in case someone decided to follow after me.

Neither of the twins were at the store or flat when I unlocked the door and made my way inside. I wasn't surprised since they told me they were going out with Angelina to meet the team and had told me not to wait up. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to talk to Fred about anything just yet, especially since my father and I had always gotten along. I didn't want to chalk it up to teenaged rebellion, but I was overly frustrated by how I was being treated with kid gloves lately. I already knew what had happened to me was horrible and that I could have very easily been living out the rest of my days in the same ward as my mother, or even dead. But I was here and I had lived through it. There was no moving on when a war was brewing so I needed to get stronger and this wasn't helping. Plus, Harry didn't seem to be getting the same treatment and he was two years younger.

I ran a hot shower to warm up from the dewy night and crawled into Fred's bed with a cup of tea. I pulled out the book Sirius had chipped in to buy me last Christmas and read it until I fell asleep. I didn't even hear Fred come in and slept all the way through until morning, not even stirring when Fred got up early to open the shop. I was getting better, and I didn't have the patience for hearing the opposite.

XX

I ended up writing Harry the next morning, still feeling frustrated and knowing he would understand. I got his heated reply the following day, reading that the fact that I was alive was proof enough of how resilient I was. Fred and George also agreed, meaning the three of us boycotted the next Order meeting and only attended our shifts as scheduled. Until anything happened, and the Daily Prophet was a good enough source to read between the lines to see if there were any changes, I knew the only thing to be discussed was me.

Tonks and the twins were the only partners I teamed up with and Mad-Eye never said anything to the contrary.

Things on Harry's end were sounding much more interesting. Aside from his suspicion of Malfoy being a Death Eater and his brotherly concern for Fred being my more permanent roommate, he also talked a lot about the new Potion's Master, Horace Slughorn.

Between Harry and the twins I was mostly all caught up on things that happened between the Department of Mysteries and my hospital stay. I knew Dumbledore requested Harry's help to convince this professor to return to Hogwarts; apparently he had taught my mother. This also meant Snape was teaching Defense and Harry was having a terrible time of it, maybe only slightly better than last year with Umbridge.

A happier topic was that Harry made quidditch captain and finally had the team together. I was happy to hear that Ron remade the team as keeper while Ginny was chaser. Losing most of the team was a major hit and Harry was taking the role very seriously. Angelina and the twins were always asking for reports but all three of them remained sceptical of Ron's place on the team. Even though Ron had helped to win Gryffindor the cup last year, Angelina remembered how difficult it was to train him whenever he lost his confidence.

But what Harry talked about most was that because Slughorn accepted him into Potions he was able to continue working towards a career of becoming an auror. I admitted to Fred one night that I was nervous for Harry, but we both agreed that if Harry was this supportive of me joining the Order then I should be supportive of his ambitions. It wasn't like danger was going to stop following us around like a dark cloud anyways.

The final topic of conversation was much more vague, Harry mentioning that he was meeting with Dumbledore regularly but couldn't disclose any details which made me curious. I decided to trust Dumbledore again, especially after our conversation when I first joined the Order.

This was the main reason I decided to finally attended an official Order meeting after the first couple months. It was now late autumn, when the season started to turn cold.

Despite the evident rift that had spread between me and my father, I had fallen into a normal routine between helping out at the shop and doing shifts for the Order at Hogwarts. Harry knew I was on the grounds sometimes but I still hadn't run into him or the others.

I was curious then to hear a report from Dumbledore and decided with the twins that if the meeting turned its attention onto me that I would just object and leave. I was finished talking about my abduction and the scars it had left behind.

When I entered Grimmauld Place in between the twins, they both didn't give anyone a chance to approach me, all three of us taking our seats together at the end of the table. My father was already here, sitting beside Mrs. Weasley who both looked at the three of us with expressions of parental concern.

We were late in our arrival, planning it that way to limit the opportunities for anyone to bring up any unpleasant topics of conversation. So I was relieved when Dumbledore was prompt in his arrival and the meeting commenced as soon as he sat down. Despite the more tangent-based speeches I remembered Dumbledore giving at school, here he gave his report quite succinctly, informing everyone of the more covert operations of the Order. I was shocked to find out that Remus was infiltrating the werewolf pack, something I knew he would struggle with. I knew from a few hushed discussions during my childhood who Fenrir Greyback was, and the fact that he was still highly affiliated with the British pack was enough to turn my stomach. But I kept my reactions to myself and waited to hear about Harry. Dumbledore didn't seem fazed by my presence at this meeting unlike some of the others who chanced sideways glances at me.

"Horace has collected Harry, just as I anticipated him to do," Dumbledore announced quite vaguely when he finally started talking about my brother.

I knew there was obviously a specific purpose Dumbledore used Harry to hire this professor, but I had no idea what Dumbledore meant by Slughorn _collecting_ Harry. However, most others around the table seemed to understand.

"Lena was a part of the Slug Club, same as Lily. Unfortunately, I suspected later that Horace might have been interested in Lena being a part of his favourite's club because of her eyes," my father's more blunt analysis was quite unexpected but still didn't clarify things for me.

"Horace likes to make favour with any student he finds interesting, whether it be family fortune, academic excellence or athletic grace. Lena was a talented witch at Hogwarts with an added visual curiosity. As for Harry, Horace's interest is much more obvious and I have instructed Harry with a very important task. As I told Mad-Eye during the summer, I am gathering all the important details on Voldemort, and Horace has a very important piece to that plan," Dumbledore explained and by the end there were many different expressions around the table.

My father and Mrs. Weasley wore similar looks of scepticism and worry, but they must have been privy to the plan since neither of them said anything. I assumed that Dumbledore might have ran this by my father since he was Harry's assumed guardian. There were seemingly many meetings behind closed doors that seemed to centre around me and Harry.

"I have also been meeting with Harry to tell him the details I find out regarding Voldemort," Dumbledore continued and was met by another round of silence.

I assumed this was what Harry had referenced in his letters. I was suddenly curious what those meetings consisted of, but I knew voicing my curiosity would only set off a tense argument on my behalf. If my father already didn't want Harry knowing any of this, he would certainly be against me finding out. Suddenly, I was very impatient for Harry to come home for Christmas so we could compare notes.

The meeting ended when Dumbledore stood up a few moments later and was escorted out by Kingsley Shacklebolt. The latter had been uncharacteristically quiet but obviously the two men had more sensitive topics to discuss as they tipped their heads and exited the kitchen. Fred was the next one standing with his hand in mine, pulling me up with him. George was at our heels but we were halted under the stern gaze of their mother who moved quicker than I had ever seen her to block our exit.

"Sit down you three." Her stare was slightly unnerving, enough to silence any objection on the twins' lips.

I always respected Mrs. Weasley and knew she definitely had a stern side, especially after raising seven children, and the twins in particular. But I couldn't remember a time being specifically on the receiving end of her set stare, causing me to sit down on the nearest bench. Once I was seated with the twins again on either side of me, Mrs. Weasley returned to her seat beside my father.

"Marnie, we know you are upset with us. And I know from Harry's letters that I'm not his favourite person right now either. I am just trying to do what's best by both of you and I have no idea what that is anymore. You and Harry are my entire world, and I can't sit by while you are both so angry," my father explained, continuing his blunt streak from the meeting earlier.

But his mere mention of my anger set off the already short fuse I had going lately.

"Of course I'm angry! I haven't been able to save anyone. I wasn't champion so I couldn't save Cedric! I went to the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius and he died! And every other time Harry has needed help to save anyone, I haven't been there!" I hadn't meant to shout my answer but my anger had already taken over.

A few leftover members in the room awkwardly looked over but none of them with any actual interest in joining our conversation.

"You don't need to save everyone darling. No one can manage that, that's why the Order is a group," my father's eyes turned understanding with a tinge of sadness telling me that deep down he knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Not everyone, just one person! People are dead, my family is in danger. I joined the Order to be able to save at least one person because if not, I don't think I'm brave at all," I retorted with anger flowing through me.

Maybe everyone here knew exactly what I was talking about, everyone was scared with determination outweighing their fear. Maybe my anger was a part of my grieving process and I should be taking their concern more in stride. But I was finished with feeling pathetic and weak, I survived Bellatrix Lestrange and now I felt determined enough to face Voldemort himself if it meant keeping my family safe.

"Please, just let me grow up," I pleaded quietly, standing up to show that I was finished with this conversation.

Fred and George stood up on either side of me, showing their solidarity like always. I didn't want to hurt my father or Mrs. Weasley. I knew they were showing they cared in the way they knew how, but I couldn't accept it if it meant showing weakness. One last look between them and I hoped that maybe the anxious look they shared was an acknowledgement that they could no longer keep us away from the world. I wanted to offer a small smile, to reconcile with my father on some level. But I knew once I calmed down we could hopefully put this behind us. For now, I let myself be dragged out of the room by my two best friends and hoped that when the time came, I would be able to act on my words and actually be able to save someone.


	80. Coming Together Before the Storm

I didn't end up returning home until Harry arrived back in London. I met my father at King's Cross and felt awkward for the first time ever standing beside the man who raised me. The bustling of muggle London and the anticipation from waiting parents hardly provided any sort of distraction for my father and I. I knew I wasn't making it easy on him and life was rarely easy for my father. I felt guilty over time, wanting things to go back to the way they were. But I didn't know how that was possible when I had already been used as a pawn of war and lost too much to go back to being just a doting daughter.

I timed my arrival with the reliable punctuality of the Hogwarts Express and was not disappointed when I saw the red steam engine pull up just as I located my father on the busy platform.

"Marnie!" my father's greeting was equal parts surprise and relief, causing me to pause as he enveloped me in an embrace that reminded me of my first trip to Hogwarts.

I could tell my father had missed me but had given me the space I needed as a selfless person he always was. Maybe another parent would have hesitated with the awkwardness of the situation, but our family never had the luxury of abiding by social patterns if it meant not forgiving each other and moving on during a time where _time_ was never guaranteed. Spotting Harry over my father's shoulder reminded me that this was all that was left of our family, save Remus who was scarce these days.

"Oh, Harry!" my father caught a glance of him from our embrace, having probably sensed his arrival despite all of the other people around us.

My father let go only to embrace Harry with just as much fervour. Looking over my father's shoulder now was Harry, and with one look of understanding we knew no one was angry anymore. It wasn't a secret either that Harry and I tended to push people away when we needed them most, but it was also something my father was accustomed to. He would give us the space we wanted but then whenever he sensed a waver in our stubbornness, he made his move to close the gap and pretended as if it was never there in the first place. Maybe to my father it never really was, he just always pretended so to let us sort it out for ourselves.

"It is so good to have you home, Harry. Let's get your trunk and we'll go find the Weasley's. We're staying at The Burrow for the holidays and Molly said we should all leave the train station together," my father explained cheerfully.

Again Harry and I were at a loss for words and shared another look that said neither one of us knew of this plan previous but that it was apparent my father was more than excited about the prospect.

I couldn't actually help thinking that Sirius had acted in a similar manner last Christmas, excited to have everyone under one roof like a big, pieced-together family. But again I supposed that was what we were, the Weasley's had taken us in as part of the family years ago and I was more than agreeable to spend Harry's vacation with the red-headed clan.

"And what are the sleeping arrangements?" Harry finally spoke and it took me a moment to realise why he wanted to know this particular piece of information.

I shoved him affectionately while my father bent over to collect Harry's trunk, refusing for Harry to do it himself since my father had always carried Harry's or my trunk from the train station. He missed our sibling faux-aggression and went on to answer Harry's question.

"Same as always, I will be in Charlie's old room since Bill is back with Fleur for the holidays. Marnie and Fleur will be with Ginny and you will be up in the attic with Ron," dad replied, this somehow making him smile even wider.

Harry smirked at me and I was tempted to thwart him again but dad would surely notice and I didn't want to have to explain how much I really didn't want to see Fleur or acknowledge to my father or Harry that I did spend most of my nights sharing a bed with Fred like Harry obviously was insinuating.

Neither Harry nor I wanted to spoil my father's mood so we also decided not to talk about anything Voldemort related until we found a quiet moment at The Burrow, not that that would be an easy feat. But it was nice for the three of us to be like nothing else in the world mattered except for coming together as a family.

Harry and I received a similar welcome from Mrs. Weasley who embraced us like her own and then led all of us out until we could apparate. Mad-Eye and Tonks were waiting outside the station to help apparate everyone to The Burrow to avoid anyone waiting for me or Mrs. Weasley to escort them since Harry, Ron and Ginny were all still underage.

I followed Ginny up to the house since we had apparated together and was pleasantly surprised when Fred opened the door and welcomed us in.

"Hey, love," Fred smiled and stole a kiss on my cheek that Ginny didn't miss and smirked at.

I couldn't help thinking how similar her and Harry were in regard to their reactions on my life, but then I knew from her letters that she was currently dating Dean Thomas. I didn't know much about Harry's dormmate but Ginny had vented in a few of her letters to leave me thinking that maybe they didn't make the best couple.

"Marnie!" Ron surprisingly called out once we were all inside and herded into the living room to get ourselves organised.

He quickly yet clumsily hugged me which was further made awkward since Fred hadn't let go of my hand yet.

"So, uh, Marnie. I wanted to tell you that I actually have a girlfriend now," Fred's hand tightened around mine and I finally had to shake him off to give him a rueful look and give Ron a proper embrace since I hadn't seen him in half a year.

"Tread very carefully, little brother," Fred was obviously feeling defensive but I just smiled at Ron.

"That's really great, Ron, good for you. I'm sure she's lovely," I said but looked over his shoulder to see Ginny scowl.

I wondered what had happened to make her look so bitter at her brother. I didn't give a sideways glance to Harry this time because I knew that even if he did know what was going on that he wouldn't tell me where it concerned his best friend and the woman I was pretty convinced he had very strong feelings for.

I decided instead to let Ginny lead me into the kitchen where she declared she needed something to drink. My eyebrows rose alarmingly though when Ginny went brazenly into the cupboard and rooted around until she pulled out a bottle of fire whisky and continued to put a generous portion into each of our glasses before mixing it with some Christmas ginger beer that was supposed to be meant for the guests.

"Ron is such a hypocrite, telling everyone with ears that he has a girlfriend to snog. Everyone knows he followed Phlegm around waiting for her to kiss his cheek and stole glances at you every chance he got! Fred even figured it out, I'm surprised he hasn't snapped at Ron more than he has," Ginny's anger flared more wildly before she took a large gulp of the whisky and then set the tumbler onto the counter with a clang.

I was interrupted from giving any sort of coherent response when Harry and Ron came in, Ron muttering about being put on peeling duty.

"Marnie, thank Merlin! Can you dice all of the veggies with a peeling charm for us?" Ron's eyes lit up but I was unable to answer again when Ginny scowled once more at her brother before she dragged me out.

We crossed paths with the twins on their way into the kitchen and I knew it was only going to end poorly based on the mischievous looks on both of their faces. They were obviously in a provoking sort of mood.

"And where are you two going, then?" Ginny was obviously still in a foul temper and sounded a lot like her mother questioning the twins.

"There is a pretty girl down in the village who wanted us to show her our card trick again," George mused and again I was speechless.

I knew they were joking, or at least that it didn't mean anything. But I also didn't like the feeling rising up inside of me that wanted to voice my answer as an unrelenting _no_ and to forbid them from going out. But Ginny beat me again to the punch.

"You better not be cheating on Angelina! I know you are too thick to admit to her that you have feelings, but don't think that you are free to go around talking to any girl you want for attention! And you—" Ginny pointed an angry finger at Fred, jabbing it roughly against his chest. "Marnie is way too good for you and the best thing that will ever happen to you, so don't you dare ruin it by being a prat!"

Ginny gave one last glare before storming off into the living room and presumably up the stairs since I heard them creak moments later under her scornful stomping. I sighed, knowing I was meant to follow sooner rather than later, but I loathed to think how Ginny's mood would turn once her mother told her we were also to be sharing a room with Fleur.

"Hare, I—" Fred interrupted my dreadful thoughts and I realized George had disappeared through the swinging door into the kitchen.

I wanted to argue and yell, or at least give some sort of snide remark. But then I realized that they had probably just been trying to egg on Ginny and that I trusted Fred completely.

So instead I stepped forward and kissed his shocked lips until they contorted around mine. I could hear the boys in the kitchen having a heated conversation and that it sounded like Mrs. Weasley was moving towards us from the living room so I broke apart before our stolen tryst was found out.

"Merlin I love you," Fred exclaimed in a breathy whisper.

I smirked back just as Mrs. Weasley passed by us, looking a little put off. Lately, even though I hadn't been around as much, I knew that expression meant that she was thinking of Percy and how that git of a man didn't even have the decency to show up for Christmas. She didn't even say a word until she entered the kitchen and then yelled at Ron with something to do with throwing knives.

My eyes widened but Fred leaned in to whisper in my ear, completely distracting me from whatever was going on in the kitchen; most likely George spurring Ron on.

"I'm off to buy your Christmas present since I saw it in a store window the other day but I was much too busy to stop and get it. And never worry about me, I only have eyes for you, love," Fred kissed my cheek as he lifted his head back up and then winked before heading into the kitchen after his brother.

I stood there for a moment before deciding that Ginny was in the most need of my company and then headed up towards her bedroom.

By the time I reached Ginny, she had decidedly cooled down and we spent the afternoon catching up on the going's on at Hogwarts. I got a better picture of Professor Slughorn since Ginny was also a part of the Slug Club, as well as the reality of Snape teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.

At the sound of Remus greeting everyone downstairs, Ginny and I decided to head downstairs to sit with everyone else. I embraced Remus, and just like with my father, everything was forgiven. He looked much too thin and I worried what the mission had done for his health but no one brought up the Order right away. It was nice to just spend time with my family and talk like we weren't all a part of a secret organization that went up against both Voldemort and the sanctions of the Ministry.

Fred and George returned just before dinner with their arms full of parcels and bags. Fred winked at me before the two of them went upstairs to deposit their presents and get washed up for dinner. Fleur and Bill were the last ones to arrive and I watched as Ginny's expression turned murderous again once she clued in that we would be having another roommate for the holiday.

I embraced Bill like an older brother and then Fleur with a little more hesitation. Any reminder of that tournament was difficult, but she only smiled and moved along with the rest of her greetings.

When Mrs. Weasley finally announced dinner, the lot of us piled into the dining room. I ended up sitting in between the twins who grabbed onto me in the living room and didn't let go until we were in our seats. I gave them each a rueful smile but ended up smiling for real since it was Christmas and it was nice to be reminded in such a small way how much the twins obviously cared about me.

Dinner was delicious and as boisterous as ever with people trying to have conversations around the cluttered table. But it wasn't until after dinner when I volunteered to help clean up that I had a moment alone with Harry who willingly dried all of the dishes by hand.

"So, what did Remus and the others say about your Snape theory?" I asked him, having briefly overheard their conversation in the den before we had all been called for dinner.

Harry shook his head and gave an irritated sigh. "They all think that we should put our faith in him since Dumbledore trusts him. But I know what I heard Marnie. He's helping Draco with some sort of scheme," Harry applied a little more force into drying the plate in his hands before he set it down with a clatter on top of the pile.

I smiled but knew he saw my own doubt before I even said anything. "I believe you, Harry, so please don't think that I don't. I just know Snape was the one who saved me at Malfoy Manor. I know what Mr. Weasley and the others have told me, that they think it was one of my delusions since they never saw Snape themselves. But my delusions were always positive. I always saw the people who keep me safe and Snape was never one of those people. He stirred me out of my thoughts and led me out of the dungeon so the others would find me. And it's not like I could have gotten out of the cell myself or I would have done it before the raid," I voiced my thoughts that Harry had already known through my letters.

"I believe you, too, Marnie," Harry sighed and placed the next plate down more carefully before he turned to look at me. "It just doesn't make sense. Why would Snape help you if he's now helping Draco? Draco was in the Manor the entire time you were locked up there so there is no doubt he's in league with them. And I'm sure he has the mark on his arm now, so he can't be planning anything good. And he is planning something, I know it," Harry picked up another plate and we both pondered the dilemma as we finished the chores.

"It's good to have you home. It's good to have someone believe me and not worry so blatantly at the same time," I said when we were finally done.

Harry looked at me more seriously and smiled, a true smile that I realized I hadn't seen in ages.

"It's good to be back with everyone," Harry nodded before we decided to rejoin the others.

Everyone was full and sated, deciding to call it an early night since everyone was tired from travelling and settling in.

I waited until most everyone had gone upstairs before I decided that the bathroom would be available to clean up and get ready for bed. Once I was finished though, I was startled when I heard someone speak from the landing above.

"Have a good talk with Harry?" Fred surprised me since I had thought he and George had gone to bed an hour ago.

I nodded, knowing there were several people sleeping all along the staircase in the bedrooms that stemmed off from it. Fred nodded knowingly before he grabbed my hand and led me downstairs until we got to the kitchen. The door closed behind us and I realized that this was probably the only room in the house that offered enough privacy to be able to talk without disrupting anyone while they slept.

Fred moved to the kettle and flicked his wand to start boiling the water for tea.

"Everyone's noticing how happy you are," Fred smiled but I frowned when I noticed it didn't reach his eyes.

He busied himself putting together the two cups but I scowled at the back of his head.

"Oh, and you preferred when I acted more like _The Girl Who Almost Went Mad_?" I asked, trying to keep my voice hushed without letting my frustration raise my volume.

Fred whipped his head around, thankfully not holding the cups yet since the tea for sure would have burned him from the speed of his movements.

"NO! Of course not, Hare! Merlin, how could you even think I would mean it like that. Of course I am thrilled you're getting better, and not at all surprised. You're too strong and good and determined to let the Death Eaters win against you," Fred's bold and quick answer shocked me, leaving me to sink back down into the stool at the counter.

"Then what did you mean by it? I can see it in your eyes that there's something bothering you," I waited, accepting the cup like it was Fred's apology before he leaned up against the counter opposite me with his elbows resting on the well-worn wood from the thousands of meals Mrs. Weasley had prepared here.

"I just wish I had something to do with it," Fred whispered bashfully, startling me again with his surprisingly honesty, or the truth as he saw it.

I vehemently disagreed, crediting Fred with a large portion of my recovery since he was always by my side, pushing through my defenses until I didn't have the energy to put them up anymore. But Fred spoke again before I could strongly object.

"I just mean that I wish we could be two normal people in love. I wish I could bring you out in public without worrying if we're being followed or if something will happen. I wish I could bring you on a proper date and give you the relationship you deserve—" Fred paused when I reached across the counter and squeezed his hand.

His expression was frustrated and a lot more melancholy than I was expecting.

"Tell me what we would do," I whispered encouragingly and stared at Fred, marveling at just how much of a softer side he really had.

But then again, besides George in dire circumstances, I figured I was the only one who ever got to see it.

"I would bring you out to London, I've never been able to afford anything fancy so I would spoil you. We would eat lobster or steak or any meal you like and not have to worry about the cost. We would drink champagne and then I would bring you out dancing," Fred's face lit up but I couldn't help interrupting.

"But I didn't think you liked dancing," I speculated, thinking he hadn't been very keen when McGonagall had taught us all to dance for the Yule Ball.

But then again, I hadn't been speaking to Fred at that point and had watched him with annoyance while Fred foiled George's chances of asking Angelina. Truthfully, I didn't really know how Fred felt about dancing since George was the only one of my friends I had danced with that night.

"I am a great dancer, I will have you know, and the idiot I am passed up on the opportunity to dance with the girl I really wanted to on the night of the Yule Ball. I've never stopped regretting not swallowing my pride and stealing a dance with you that night. I know George did, which makes me feel all the more guilty that I didn't make up with you that very night, just to dance with you and twirl you around in that sapphire dress you were wearing," Fred's recollection of that night was almost picture perfect and I was surprised again with just how much thought Fred had obviously put into this idea.

"And I know you were with Cedric that night and I wouldn't have meant for it to be more, but I was too selfish for it not to have been more than platonic that I brushed you off until much too late," Fred's tone dipped again and I squeezed his hands through the clench in my stomach that wasn't nearly as painful as it once was to be reminded of Cedric, especially in such a wonderful memory I had of him.

But this was Fred, and what he was saying swept all of my pain away as I drew my attention back to dancing with Fred somewhere that wasn't the Yule Ball, in a new memory that would be just ours to hold.

Fred walked me to Ginny's room later on, once we were done our teas and Fred had laid out an entire, fantastical night that he promised he would give to me once the war was over. We both stopped at the bedroom door and I sighed to think that I would have to navigate my way to Ginny's bed that I was sharing with her while avoiding tripping over Fleur's cot.

"Kiss me like you're leaving me on my doorstep at the end of a date," I whispered and if it weren't for the pin drop silence of the house I didn't think Fred would have heard me.

In reply Fred grabbed my shoulders with his hands to pull me into his chest. Once I was pressed up against him, one of his hands moved so that it clasped under my chin and moved it upwards until I was looking into his face. His lips found mine in the dark and all I could think of was how perfect Fred could make a moment that hadn't actually happened. But I could believe in that moment that we had spent the evening fine dining and being swept off our feet on a dance floor where we spent the entire night in each other's arms.

His lips were urgent and a little chapped from the winter cold, catching me in an embrace where I could no longer acknowledge the reality around us. For someone who had been through so much, Fred had the capacity to erase it all away with his energy and loyalty towards me.

When I finally pulled back, I had to steady my breathing since I was afraid it was loud enough to wake someone up. And with my father, brother and several other family friends in the house, I did not want to become the gossip of the holidays.

"Goodnight, love," Fred kissed the top of my shoulder which had become loosely exposed from my oversized sweater from where Fred grabbed me into our embrace.

It was such an intimate gesture and I watched on as Fred smiled and then disappeared up the stairs towards his room with George, where Bill was also staying crammed into the house.


	81. The Burning Burrow

Christmas morning was a frenzied affair, the stars being Fred and George who spoiled their entire family with expensive gifts. I held up a small box carefully in my hand under Fred's watchful gaze before unwrapping it. Inside was a locket with an inscription in the rose gold face.

 _Hare_

I smiled, not helping the blush covering my face before Ginny descended upon me to inspect it.

"Wow Fred, I wouldn't have thought you had such good taste," Ginny smirked, turning over the necklace before she decidedly unclasped it and put it around my neck.

I thanked her as she fixed my hair back over my shoulders, it having grown down to my shoulder blades since I graduation.

George nudged Fred in the shoulder who couldn't quite erase the look of trepidation on his face.

But I was sure my look was just as bashful watching Fred grab the one from me and start to unravel the ribbon. I had seen them in Borgin and Burkes of all places after hearing of Harry's sighting of Malfoy and his mother. Seeing the artefact had made my visit far less suspicious, wondering what Malfoy could possibly find use for with a Vanishing Cabinet. I knew Mr. Weasley had looked into them since then but I hadn't heard much except that people used them during the last war for the purposes of escaping Voldemort when he or his Death Eaters came calling.

I let Mad-Eye look at the objects I had chosen, and after a month of hearing his warning about venturing into such a shop, he had concluded that they were in fact usefully charmed relics.

"A bracelet?" Fred asked, a little sceptically but still with a kind smile.

I felt hesitant for another moment, wondering if Fred would actually want to use them. But then I shook my head, not caring if he wanted to or not, for it was something I wanted him to use regardless.

"It's a matching set. The ones who wear them can feel the heartbeats of another. If one of them is in danger, the other starts pulsing as a warning that they are in trouble. Or if one's heart was to stop—" my words froze on my tongue but Fred was already wrapping one of the bands over his wrist.

"This is brilliant, Hare! Here, hurry and put yours on," Fred unclasped the second band and stood up to wrap it around and secure it over my wrist.

Fred gasped a little once both of them were on and I instantly knew why. Under the bracelet, I could feel the soft yet unmistakable thrum of another's heartbeat on my skin; Fred's pulse.

Since neither one of us were very good at expressing ourselves through words, we just smiled and let the thrum of each other's hearts take some of the anxiety away. This would now enable us to always know that the other's heart was still beating, that even if we became separated again we would know the other was still alive.

After another meaningful pause between us, I returned to my seat and opened the rest of my presents. I received a defense book from my father and one on healing herbs from Remus. Harry gave me a Sneakascope, something he made me promise I would carry around with me everywhere I went. After doubly reassuring him that I would I opened another one from Ron who gave me a bag of sweets, a little smaller than the ones I had gotten in previous years but still full of treats only made by the house elves at Hogwarts.

After all of the presents were opened and everyone started helping to clean up, I changed into my new orange sweater, the colour I had come to expect since it was the colour Mrs. Weasley used every year except for the year I received blue; when me and Fred hadn't been speaking.

After the dishes were cleaned up from brunch, I spent the afternoon reading in the den and then helped Mrs. Weasley prepare Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, Fleur had also decided to assist so I mostly acted as referee between her and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. By the time everything was prepared, we all sat down for another crowded dinner where we stuffed ourselves full with such a delicious supper.

"It's Percy!" Mrs. Weasley called out from the kitchen after she had disappeared through the door to bring out the pudding that was warming in the oven.

I shared a look with Fred who looked even less convinced than I did that this would turn out to be a good thing. But sure enough, a moment later the door opened from Mrs. Weasley bustling over to answer it and the entire table looked up more than a little slack-jawed to see none other than the Minister for Magic himself, following Percy into The Burrow.

When Rufus Scrimgeour announced their faulty purpose for interrupting our Christmas, spouting off about Percy wanting to see his family despite no one having heard from him in over a year, his not-so-subtle plan was revealed when he asked Harry to accompany him around the garden under the pretense that he would leave Percy to give his greetings.

Others such as my father and Remus looked as if they were about to object, but I was the one who pushed back my seat and stood up to interfere.

"It's alright, Marnie. Don't worry," Harry walked past me on his way out and patted my shoulder before he continued out into the garden with the Minister for Magic.

I scowled and walked out to the den, despite Percy's attempted interruptions. Ginny followed me and we both watched out the window, spotting Harry and the Minister strolling together until they disappeared around the house. I kept my gaze outside the window continuing to frown, thinking that this man was only marginally better than Fudge for trying to use Harry.

"Marnie, might I have a word?" Percy appeared in the doorway somewhat unexpectedly.

I had thought he would put up with his mother's hovering until Scrimgeour came to collect him. But his expression was what I figured was his best attempt at Ministry professionalism so I tried not to laugh in his face and scowled instead. Percy ignored this and acted as if my reaction hadn't happened at all.

"I wondered if you had given any consideration of working for the Ministry? I know that you did fairly well on your NEWTs, especially given the extenuating circumstances," Percy explained, earning a derisive scowl from Ginny who was still leaning over the couch beside me.

I put my hand on her arm to tell her that I wanted to see where this was going before either of us objected.

"Yes, well being abducted by Bellatrix Lestrange thankfully took place after I had written all of my exams," I responded shortly, earning a nod of simulated understanding from Percy.

"Well, please know that the Minister himself is most interested in your talent and would be willing to give you a position in the Minister's office itself," Percy straightened his shoulders back, like he was bestowing a great honour.

This time I couldn't hold back my sneer and watched as Percy's face fell indignant.

"So, let me get this straight. You take advantage of the fact that Harry Potter spends his Christmas with your family, one who you have all but abandoned, to fall into favour with the Minister for Magic. And as an added bonus, you wish to recruit Harry Potter's sister to stand idly beside the Minister during his press conferences and rallying for artificial peace. Or is it that you want _The Girl Who Almost Went Mad_ to be used as a media charity case? Even though the Minister would not conduct any timely raid on Malfoy Manor when I was kidnapped and it took your father using all of his call-ins to get the aurors to be sanctioned to perform the raid. Rufus Scrimgeour had absolutely nothing to do with my survival and I will not become his puppet now that my surviving benefits his position!" my voice had risen in volume, calling forward several house guests who looked on with varying levels of annoyance, disbelief and disgust.

I kept my heated glare on Percy, not taking my eyes from his gaze until he broke first to the impact of turnips hitting the back of his head. I finally looked over to see that Fred and George had confiscated the bowl to use as ammunition and that Ginny had ventured over to join in throwing mushy vegetables at their brother.

Percy immediately took his leave and Harry returned into The Burrow, confirming my suspicions that Scrimgeour had also been trying to recruit him, Harry probably being the primary objective and me as an added bonus.

After that my father ushered everyone to bed that night, wanting to give Mrs. Weasley some privacy since she was obviously upset by Percy's double handed appearance.

That set the mood for the following day, a much more somber affair. Mrs. Weasley busied herself in the kitchen, recruiting the help of my father who took it upon himself to distract her from her grief and worry. Harry tried getting more information out of Mr. Weasley and Remus, the three of them disappearing out to the garden shed for more privacy. My assumption was that they wanted some quiet time away from the constant playing of Celestina Warbeck. I was able to tuck myself away in the den with a constant supply of tea from Mrs. Weasley who ended up doting on those around the house, even Fleur who busied herself around the house all day. The twins had gone off to the store early that morning but Fred urged me to stay and visit with our families, promising to come back for dinner. Fred had tapped the band around his wrist with a small smile before he left, a promise that he would be aware of it to know that I was alright, even amongst the chaos of the store.

By the time darkness fell and I heard the men return inside, the twins would still be at the shop for another few hours. I gazed outside to watch the light snow falling and huddled closer under the blankets against the chill that entered through the drafts of the old home.

Harry was the only one to enter through into the den while the other men chose to set up the dining room and Ginny and Ron remained somewhere upstairs, probably taking an afternoon nap. I could hear a set of footsteps descending the stairs and could only guess it was Ron being drawn down by the wafting smells of his mother's cooking. But my attention was sharply pulled to the outside by the spontaneous flames that started in the long grass surrounding The Burrow. The Sneakascope Harry had given me pulsed in my pocket but it only confirmed what I already knew.

I bolted up, depositing the quilt onto the floor and ran by Harry. I figured he must have called after me, but I ignored him and ran outside, drawing my wand since I already knew who was here. Her signature cackling confirmed my suspicions as I exited the house, knowing somehow Bellatrix and a few others had gotten past the wards Mr. Weasley had put up.

"Marnie! Harry!" I heard my father calling out from the front step, the both of us already running through the unkept lawn and out into the fields where the laughter grew only louder.

The heat from the flames meant that I did not regret having not had enough time to put on a jacket. Instead, I heard Harry's panting breaths right behind me and prayed that someone had held my father back from pursuing.

"No, Ginny!" I heard Mr. Weasley shout and reprimanded myself that Ginny had come chasing after us.

Harry and I came into a clearing and pressed into each other's backs since we knew we were surrounded, but not knowing how many Death Eaters had come knocking. It did not go without my notice though that the Death Eaters had tracked us down only a day after the Minister's visit and I thought annoyedly that he must have been tracked to this location by whomever was acting as mole within the Ministry.

Ginny soon caught up, regrettably only wearing a housecoat and Harry pulled her into our huddle, sheltering her slightly behind his back. Remus and Mr. Weasley appeared next but not before the curses started flying, each of us deflecting and sending counter curses to try and defend our place.

The attack from the Death Eaters seemed more like a rogue attempt at collecting Harry than a well thought out plan. After a shorter amount of time than I expected to fight them off, it seemed they knew they were outnumbered. Only three wisps of black shadows rose up from the field around us in retreat. But I watched as one that continued to cry out in maniacal laughter tore through The Burrow and resulted in the house going up in flames.

"Molly!" Mr. Weasley cried out, tightening his grip on his daughter's shoulder before he pulled her towards their home.

Remus was more cautious, herding Harry and I in front of him back towards the house while he made sure none of the Death Eaters circled back or remained hidden in the crops to ambush us. We made it back to The Burrow without incident but I was shocked still to see the fire spread through the entire building. The wooden addition near the top which I knew was Bill's childhood room crumbled off the main structure and crashed to the ground.

"Marnie!" I turned at the sound of someone apparating and to the sound of my name.

Fred and George were running towards us, looking horrified at the scene in front of them.

"Your heart, it was racing," Fred exclaimed, looking at me with a desperate anxiety that I realised must have been his same expression whenever he found out I had been taken.

I looked down at my wrist, feeling amazed that it had worked and staring at it so I wouldn't have to look at Fred's stark fear.

"Marnie, get Harry out of here. Fred, George, bring Ginny and Ron to The Cottage," Remus took charge, already standing beside my father who wore his own anxiety on his face.

My father couldn't protect himself and even with a house full of skilled wizards we hadn't prevented the Weasley's house from being destroyed.

I nodded in ascent, grabbing Harry's hand before he could object, since had been standing only a few paces away, and apparated at once. A moment later we were standing in the front yard of my home that I hadn't seen in months. It looked almost abandon despite the fact that my father had cleared the walkway up to the house. The lights were not on inside and suddenly I felt selfishly guilty for not having returned for so long.

I led the others up to the house who all started appearing in our yard. Harry and I were inside by the time everyone entered. Harry put the kettle on while I was summoned outside to cast any protection charms I could think of. With more people securing the premises, the stronger the charms would be. Fred, George, Remus, Bill, Fleur, Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley all put up the wards before we re-entered the house and each accepted a cup from my father.

Everyone started asking questions, speculating the same thing as me that the Minister had been followed and that was how they had found Harry. That made several of the others even more upset with Percy but Mr. Weasley silenced them all before Mrs. Weasley got even more teary eyed.

I felt someone squeeze my hand suddenly and I realised Fred had probably been sitting beside me in front of the fire place this entire time but I had been too lost in thought. Surprisingly, I didn't feel like I was going to have a panic attack or lose sight of reality despite this being my first run-in with Bellatrix since my abduction. I was however frustrated and exhausted, feeling my eyes growing heavy and not being up for talking about my potential trauma.

"I'll make up the beds," I announced, hearing Harry agree that he would also help before we disappeared upstairs, thankfully leaving everyone else downstairs since we were the most familiar with where everything was.

It was going to be cramped, the twins grudgingly agreeing to go back to their flat to free up more space. However, they stayed a while longer, going over in painful detail what had just happened and how this left us even more vulnerable than before.

"Watch yourselves boys, you know we're all being followed. You are both very public figures now and Diagon Alley isn't necessarily safe anymore," I heard Mr. Weasley warning his sons as I came downstairs, carrying a cot with a hovering charm to set it up downstairs in the living room where there would be more space.

Both Fred and George nodded, Fred looking up and catching my eye with a worried glance before he stood up to help me even though I didn't necessarily need it. He also followed me when I returned upstairs to collect some of the extra blankets while Harry set up our beds for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to take since no one was returning to The Burrow until tomorrow morning.

"Hare," my name was soft on his lips but I continued to pull out blankets from our linen closet and deposited them into Fred's outstretched arms instead of answering.

This didn't seem to discourage Fred though who continued with his thought. "I think it's best if you stay here with your father full time now."

This snapped me back to reality more than anything else and I wondered if my mind had just shut down to prevent myself from breaking down.

I wanted to argue, to scream at him that he was wrong. And even though I didn't agree with the unspoken reasons I could read on Fred's face, I did agree that my father couldn't be left alone. We were all vulnerable, him more than others. And I needed to make sure he was safe, especially when Harry and I made him more of an obvious target.

"I'll stay for my father, not because you want to protect me." I didn't look over at Fred who I could hear sighing, probably wrestling with his conflicting thoughts.

I was surprised by his level of reservation, especially when I didn't think Fred had ever held anything back in his entire life. He had made sure to go against Umbridge, to speak his mind in any situation at school. Even around his family he was blunt, never thinking through the consequences when it was something he wanted for himself; like his joke shop with George. But Fred seemed to get tongue tied a lot when it came to telling me what he thought and I didn't know how to take that realisation.

"I'm selfish enough to accept that reason if it keeps you safe. It sounds like The Cottage will become the stronghold for the Order while meetings will still take place at Grimmauld Place. George and I have to keep the shop open, but I don't know if it's such a good idea for you to be in public as much," Fred said gently, wanting more privacy than an even smaller house gave us with both of our families packed into it.

I could hear Harry moving around in our shared bedroom and someone walking up the stairs. There was going to be a lot of shuffling around, despite the twins heading to the flat and Bill and Fleur returning home as well.

Instead of answering or forming my annoyed response that I could only assume Fred saw on my face, he bowed in and stole a kiss. On his lips I could feel his uncertainty and anxiety. It was then that I could tell Fred's true feelings, that he wanted me to come back to the flat, security be damned. He wanted to be the one to watch by me, but the situation called for an alternative course of action. By the time someone reached the top of the stairs, Ron, who was looking for Harry in our room, Fred had pulled apart and headed off towards the stairs to bring the blankets for all the kids who would be sleeping down there.

That night Ron ended up on the couch, Ginny and I on the camping cots my father and I had used when I was very young, and Harry on the floor with the cushions stacked from the chairs in the house. Ron's parents were in Harry's and my bedroom while Remus stayed in his room and my father in the master like always. It would have been a lot more fun if I didn't see the fleeting look of regret cross both of the twins' faces before they left or that we all presumed there wasn't much left of The Burrow which we had all had to leave behind to ensure everyone's safety. Word was sent to Dumbledore who assured that in order to avoid any trap, that Kingsley Shacklebolt would round up some aurors and would clear the area before sending confirmation for anyone to return.

The four of us all pretended to sleep that night in the living room, Ginny finding my hand across our cots in the middle of the night while I felt her arm shake from her silent tears no doubt over the destruction of a place we all held very dear.

But the next morning, despite all of us looking a little haggard from a restless night, Ginny didn't show any sign of the sadness we all felt. And despite all of our demanding, none of the children were allowed to return to The Burrow under the pretense that Harry and I were still in danger and that Ginny and Ron could not technically use magic outside of school despite Ginny using her wand to defend herself the night before.

And although Mrs. Weasley was much more emotional that before, she kept all of us in check before it was time for Harry and the others to return to Hogwarts the day after New Year's. The three of them stood at our fireplace with their trunks, Ron and Ginny's being scavenged from the fire, since Dumbledore had opened the channel for all of the students to use for a safer return. I received a hug from each of them, even a timid one from Ron before watching them all disappear into the green flames.

After that I became Mrs. Weasley's helper around the house, following her requests without question while Remus, Mr. Weasley and a few others recovered The Burrow and went about fixing the structure to be able to move back. Fred sent letters to check-in but had limited access to The Cottage since we wanted to minimize the travelling to my location since we were all still being followed.

But as I watched out the window whenever I wasn't helping with some menial task I started wondering about what Percy had said. Even though it was a poor attempt at a power play on his part, I thought about how being a part of the Ministry might put me at more of an advantage to help out with the Order. Of course I was still a target but playing at the poor defenseless routine was only making me feel futile and none of us were truly safe. So I looked up postings in the paper I would ask Remus to bring back for me and ended up applying, not telling the others of my decision until it was too late for them to say no.


	82. Of What's to Come

Harry's letter came only a few days after he returned to Hogwarts and I was surprised to see how long it was. I stole a moment out to the garden despite it being so cold out since the Weasley's were still occupying my bedroom. Part of me was sorely tempted to return to the twins' flat, but that would break the promise I had made to myself and Harry to protect my father.

Harry went on, in as much covert detail as he could accomplish, about how Dumbledore still trusted Snape despite Harry's own conviction that Draco Malfoy had joined the ranks of the Death Eaters and was worried that Snape was helping him do his evil bidding.

I had given Harry my support with his Malfoy theory since the end of summer, knowing that evil did not stipulate age and that anyone was capable to make their own decisions for association. I remembered running into Flint on the night of the Quidditch World Cup and shivered at the memory of his threat against me and my family. But I also couldn't deny that Snape was the one who had saved me from Malfoy Manor, despite what anyone else believed. The only one who hadn't speculated about what I saw in fact was Dumbledore who remained silent on that particular topic.

I went on to read about how Harry was going to be starting Apparition training but I was interrupted by the sound of someone opening the front door.

"Oh, Marnie dear, can you run into town for the grocery list? Remus hasn't returned yet and Arthur is still at The Burrow," I looked up, not missing the catch in Mrs. Weasley's voice that always started whenever she brought up her home.

I also caught on that she hadn't even mentioned my father, both of us knowing that it was not even an option to send him into town anymore. I nodded, tucking the letter into my jacket before walking outside of the wards and apparated into town. I hoped I would be able to stretch my time since I felt that even though I enjoyed spending time with my father and Mrs. Weasley both, days spent staying put at home made me feel both futile and restless.

"Marnie is that you?" a man's voice called out once I had made my way into the market of Ottery St. Catchpole.

I looked over to see Mr. Diggory striding towards me, someone who I hadn't seen since the funeral for Cedric was held at the school. He looked a little leaner and had aged more in the last few years than I could remember. But he still had the same air about him that made most people slightly uncomfortable, but all I could do was smile despite myself. I had never really gotten along with Cedric's father and truthfully he had always made me feel awkward. But I also knew that Cedric had loved his father and respected him enough to know that he was harmless.

"Mr. Diggory, it's good to see you," I replied in earnest, feeling happier than I would have expected at seeing Amos Diggory.

I let him shake my hand and exchanged pleasantries before his expression turned petulant.

"I kept waiting for your resume to cross my desk, but I had to go and track it down myself after hearing it through the gossip circulation that you had applied for general hire instead of my department specifically. My Ced always told me you had a keen interest for Care of Magical Creatures and I haven't had any interest in my department from recent graduates. If you're interested I would still be willing to offer you an interview to be my assistant. The last one didn't last very long, something about how I'm too demanding or some such nonsense," Mr. Diggory started rambling but I could only stand there in mild shock.

Even though I had applied through the general hiring pool, I had to admit that Mr. Diggory's offer was enticing so I found myself setting up an appointment for next week. I wanted to gain the attention of anyone looking to collect me, but surprisingly enough Mr. Diggory was probably the only one who was going to be earnest in his desire to hire me as a competent employee rather than a political tool. I had been prepared to become a political pawn, but one nevertheless that was actually being steered by the Order instead of the Ministry. It was something I could do instead of being a tortured pawn for the Death Eaters. But this offered another option.

Mr. Diggory left shortly thereafter, giving me a look that said he wouldn't accept any excuse for cancellation. I remembered how forward Mr. Diggory had always been when I was friends and later when I was dating Cedric, but now it felt nostalgic and I knew that I could probably handle him a lot better than others.

I returned an hour later, apologising when both Mrs. Weasley and my father gave me expressions of worry. There was nothing more that I could do other than apologise since they would always worry and wonder until Voldemort himself was defeated.

I waited until dinner to give my family the news of the appointment I had set up with Amos Diggory. Mrs. Weasley dropped the ladle she was using to scoop the stew into each of our bowls. My father sighed, rubbing a hand over his face but held back what he truly wanted to say. Mr. Weasley was the most supportive, warning me how dangerous the Ministry had become but that any person fighting for the light was a welcomed asset nonetheless. I glanced over at Remus' vacant seat and hoped that he would be as supportive as always. I didn't doubt that he would be, especially since he was mostly running with werewolves these days. Death Eaters in business suits seemed far less dangerous than infiltrating the ones wearing wolf's clothing.

I ventured into Diagon Alley the next day, not receiving any more objections since it was apparent now that I would be re-entering into society on my own path from now on.

"Hare!" Fred's exclamation was both surprised and excited when he noticed my entrance into the store.

It was slightly less busy since the students had all returned to school from Christmas break but it was still the most crowded shop in the district. George was absent from the storefront but I figured he was in the back working on the owl orders since Fred had mentioned their mail service was their greatest source of business at the moment.

"Hey, Georgie! Can you come out here, there is a beautiful woman who I must sweep off her feet and take out for lunch!" Fred proclaimed, causing me to roll my eyes at his theatrics.

I heard George before I saw him and smiled proudly at how obvious it was that George had my back.

"You better mean Marnie, you prat, because don't think I won't severely maim you if you hurt my best friend's feelings with your tomfoolery," George announced before entering into the storefront.

I beamed at him, earning a returned grin in return.

"Hey, why would you ever think it wasn't Marnie? I resent that insinuation!" Fred shouted back and drew his arm up to show his mock display of offense.

I looked between them and wished that the three of us could all grab lunch together instead of one of them having to stay behind to man the store. It felt like old times, George and I ganging up on Fred. George must have guessed what I was thinking since he smiled and spoke the words right out of my mind.

"Why don't I take Marnie out for lunch instead. You hog her too much as it is Freddie, she's my best friend, you know," George winked at me, earning another scowl from Fred.

"Actually, I came here looking to tell you something and I would rather I told you both at the same time," I admitted, watching the joking expressions disappear from their faces.

Even the jokesters were scared in this world and were made nervous, especially by me.

"What is it, Hare?" Fred's worried gaze found mine, searching my face for any clues.

I ended up telling both of them about Amos Diggory's offer and my previous application into the Ministry. To say the least, neither of them were very impressed with this decision. George didn't have anything productive to recollect about Cedric's father, remembering all too well the disconcerting things he used to say to me when we were younger, or his tactlessness for basic human interaction. Fred admonished about how I hadn't told them about my initial application and how I would for sure be followed and targeted from within the Ministry.

I let them vent, even helping a few customers while they disappeared into the backroom to be able to exhaust their tension without scaring off any of their patrons. By the time they came back out, they both looked defeated and I knew they had come around to the idea, most likely rationalized by George.

"This isn't exactly laying low Hare, but I shouldn't have expected that to last long anyways. You need to make your own stamp on the world and you've always supported our goals when no one else did," Fred proclaimed, giving me a much more mature answer than I had been expecting.

xx

But on the first day of work Fred showed up outside the Cottage as I was walking out to the end of the wards. He ended up accompanying me to where I needed to go in London and then reappeared once I returned home. I let him become overprotective, inviting him inside for dinner instead of shooing him away while I recounted how my first day at the Ministry went.

"And Amos treated you well?" my father asked for not the first time while I watched everyone else around the table lean in closer like my answer was going to change.

"After living at Malfoy Manor for two months, having to converse and work with Mr. Diggory is a cake walk," I replied, knowing this answer would prevent any further questions on the matter.

I knew it was harsh, but it was a reality I was willing to accept that happened to me. And I also thought that maybe it was a reality that my family also had to accept instead of continually being hurt by it. I hadn't broken down in months, even when the Burrow burned down, and I finally felt as if things were falling into some sort of normal, or as normal as wartime life could be.

And things continued in some sort of routine like this. The Burrow was rebuilt to the best that Mr. Weasley and others from the Order could manage, meaning that I finally got my bedroom back in late February. Before then I had used Remus' bedroom most nights since he still spent most of his time trying to uncover the movements of the London werewolf pack.

My nightmares also subsided most nights which I was relieved since I didn't want to worry the Weasleys with my late night panicked howls like Fred was so used to coaxing me out of. I found that being put to work, cataloguing magical creature patterns in Great Britain and learning all about the Ministry regulations on creature migration, breeding, and pet ownership was extremely interesting and occupied more of my mind so that I didn't feel so haunted all of the time.

On the first day of March I was asked by the twins to watch the store after work since they had an important business meeting about expanding their location. I happily agreed, ignoring my fatigue since I really wanted to make sure Fred and George made their appointment. I was so proud of the two of them and how far the business had expanded in less than a year.

The amount of customers was steady and by the time I flipped the open sign on the door to closed and latched the lock, I was ready to get off my feet. I was surprised that they weren't back yet but decided that despite my tiredness that I would make dinner.

After sweeping up and counting the till, I climbed the stairs and hoped that I could put something easy together for the three of us. Opening the fridge I set out to make bangers and mash but froze when I noticed some stray joke products on the table and dawned a wicked grin.

George had been describing the new concealable explosion packs, meant to give anyone a start if you put it under their pillow or in their rucksack. It wasn't dangerous, more focused on the noise and less on impact. I read the package since there was a demo printed out and smiled when I saw that there in fact was nothing poisonous if one were to put it into say— another's food. Once I took out the Pyrex platter of food, I dished out three portions and inserted some of the small pebbles carefully into each of theirs, to be activated at the touch of their forks impaling the soft explosive.

I sat down at the table and checked my watch, worried now that it was nearing eleven and I hadn't heard from either of them yet. Sitting in front of my own meal, waiting despite the fact that it was getting cold, I felt myself nod off in my seat.

 ** _BANG_**

I jolted awake to see Fred standing as if he were just about to nudge me awake while George was sitting across from me with a fork in his hand and at least half of his plate of food splattered onto his face.

"Right," George replied regrettably, looking down at himself to see the damage and then pointing an annoyed stare in my direction.

I was still startled and waiting for my heartrate to come back down as I heard Fred start into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. But this didn't prevent him from announcing why they had been so late coming home "Our brother was poisoned, that's why we were late."

I gasped, bringing my hands to my mouth in shock and also to try to physically stifle the laughter that had transferred from Fred's sudden outburst. His reaction was not at all appropriate for the news he had just delivered and yet I felt as if it were contagious, my own inappropriate smile creeping behind my shielding hands.

"He's fine. Harry actually was the one to save him," George reassured, giving Fred an appraising look who hadn't let up on his incessant laughter.

"Is he alright? How was he poison— Fred stop laughing!" I reprimanded, feeling dread build up inside me.

But I was exhausted from the day and couldn't help the giggles escape my lips as I watched Fred bend over in hilarity.

"I can't help it! Today felt like one of the worst days, sitting at Ron's sickbed. But he's fine and we come home—" he cut himself off with another outburst of laughter before inhaling to continue. "Hare pulls her first prank in over a year and neither of us saw it coming! I am just so in love with you."

Fred's beaming smile was the last straw, causing me to double over in my own laughter and embarrassment. At least for the time being it seemed like Ron was alright and I would ask my burning questions about him and Harry once we settled down. But in this moment I felt weightless under Fred's laughter. That was until George cleared his throat and rolled his eyes half-heartedly, although not without a smile of his own.

"Alright, well I'm going to go wash off this food and thankfully Posy fed us while we were at the school. She also sent us with a care package which I'm tempted not to give you now, but I'm too tired to give my retribution," George smirked tiredly before setting down a take-away box onto the table before disappearing into the bathroom.

Xx

The next morning, George went to open the store, giving us a suggestive grin while Fred offered to make breakfast. It was still early, an hour before I needed to head into work. While I sat down at the counter to observe Fred making breakfast I looked up to see three owls pecking at the flat's window. Two of them I recognised, Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, but the third one was a large, tawny barn owl that I guessed was one of the ones employed by the Ministry since it was not uncommon to receive morning memos from Mr. Diggory outlining whatever he wanted that day before I even stepped foot into the office.

I grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate, much to the chagrin of Fred but offered it to the three owls to fight over once I had taken all of three letters and re-shut the window to avoid a draft.

 _Der Marry Me,_

 _Frd & Gerg telled me that u have a gnu jub. I am sew hoppy for you. You take my hard on and make it sour._

 _Bust,_

 _Roonil Wazlib_

Fred peered over my shoulder and started laughing incessantly. If it hadn't been for Ron's appalling spelling and questionable content, or who I thought was Ron since it was my best guess, then I would have thought he would have taken this a lot less lightly.

"It must be that Spell Checking quill Ron bought from the store," Fred mused before setting off to go finish breakfast.

I smiled, deciding to put the letter up on the fridge before setting up the kettle to make our morning tea.

The next letter I received was far less amusing.

 _M,_

 _I was successful in fulfilling the task given to me. I was also told that being the C.O. does not mean I have to follow it like a curse to my death. I am setting down this path because I am still alive while others died because of me. You were taken and I can't forgive that or the fact that the champion was murdered or that Snuffles is gone or how my parents sacrificed themselves. The path is darker than we could have ever imagined but I will keep our family safe. It will all end with me._

 _H_

I stared at the letter and wiped away the few tears that had escaped in my heightened panic. I pieced together that Harry's reference to him being the Chosen One was the prophecy and that he was choosing to go face-to-face with Voldemort instead of doing it just because it was what the prophecy instructed. I figured that this is what Dumbledore had been prepping my brother to do, to become the true rival of Voldemort and to lift the Wizarding World out of this darkness. But all I could feel was burning frustration that these thoughts were filling his sixteen-year-old mind. I also couldn't deny his references to Cedric, Sirius, Lily and James.

This obviously prompted the third letter which I ripped the seal on before reading the brief scrawl while my anger boiled through me.

 _Dearest Marnie,_

 _I humbly ask that you stop off at my office tomorrow evening when it is suitable to you._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Headmaster Albus Dumbledore_

I knew it was to explain the hero complex from Harry's own letter. I knew it was to reassure me of whatever was coming, like I had some right to be in the know over anyone else. I didn't know how I had landed in such a position, but I wasn't going to question it if it was going to supply me with the answers I craved.


End file.
